


The Nine Tales

by BlueKazoo



Category: Naruto
Genre: Character Study, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, My First Fanfic, Polyamory, Relationship(s), S&M, Smut, Threesome - F/F/M, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-01-20 04:26:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 43,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1496605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueKazoo/pseuds/BlueKazoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of sealing the Kyuubi into Naruto alone, Minato creates a seal to split the Kyuubi's chakra into multiple pieces.  The story follows the main characters as they deal with life.  Starts out fairly close to canon, diverges quickly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Speedy Introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all. This here is my first posted fanfic. I'm going to be getting used to formatting and things like that, so if you have advice feel free to share. A couple of notes on the story. First, I'm bumping the ages of the major characters up by three years because, frankly, the idea of 13 year olds doing some of the stuff I'm writing about is horrifying, and I don't really know how to write from a 13-year-old point of view. I'm not super-solid on 16 either, but I think their thoughts/actions run closer to that age anyway. There won't be a lot of mention of the age difference, but rest assured it exists in my brain as I write this. 
> 
> Another thing I should mention is that this fic does a lot of exploring in regards to sexuality and fetishism. I'm not going to tag all of the things that will be in here because most of the kinks I touch on will be covered only briefly, with the exception of BDSM. There will be a fair amount of that in various forms. Non-con/rape will not be a significant part of this, but there may be situations that contain implied or ambiguous consent that could make people uncomfortable.
> 
> That all being said, this first chapter is mostly a background/setup chapter, and doesn't really have much content I'm excited about. I'll post the next chapter here today, which will have some relationship development, but things don't really take off (in my mind) until after Wave, which will be chapter 4. If you haven't gotten the message yet, this story is highly focused on character interaction and relationship development. I'm going to be glossing over or skipping entirely some points of the main story, simply because I don't know that I could do them justice in writing and I don't have any interesting changes to make to what happens. The chunin exam preliminaries are an excellent example, as I'm skipping that set of fights almost entirely. 
> 
> Anyway, if you've read through all that and are still going, I hope you enjoy.

The demon had been terrorizing Konoha for hours, and despite the best efforts of Konoha’s elite ninja, had been steadily making progress toward the center of town. In the middle of the chaos, Minato took several seconds to breathe, calming himself before applying the final symbols to the seal array. This was a more complex seal than he had intended at first, but at Sarutobi’s suggestion, Minato had taken extra time to devise a seal that would not only seal the Kyuubi’s chakra, but split it in the process. Minato would have preferred to seal the demon in only one child, but Sarutobi was correct in asserting that splitting the Kyuubi’s chakra would be more secure. The few ANBU not engaged in the battle with the demon were searching through the village for newborn children. It was a cold-hearted decision, subjecting children to joint existence with a demon, but any possibility of the demon being freed had to be eliminated - it wasn’t just a question of Konoha’s security, but the safety of the world. 

With a heavy heart, Minato drew the final stroke of the seal. Now he had only to complete the ritual, and the demon would be sealed. The first ANBU returned, holding a newborn child. The child was placed in one of the nine cradles circling the room. Assured that what was necessary would be done, Minato began the ritual to bind the Kyuubi.

Naruto sat on the swingset, watching those who had passed the genin exam celebrate with their families. His dream was to become Hokage, but how was he going to do that if he couldn’t even make genin?

Over the past few years, Naruto had grown accustomed to being alone. He wasn’t the only one, of course - the Kyuubi attack had left a large number of orphans to be taken care of. Despite this, he had always found that people tended to treat him differently than most other children. He wasn’t treated with outright hostility, but he had found that parents tended to watch him closely around their children. He had noticed a couple of other children who received similar treatment, but never really thought too much about why.

This seat taken?” he heard. He looked up to see Ino, looking about as bad as he felt. She hadn’t passed, either - she hadn’t used her clan techniques, and had failed to execute a proper henge.

Sakura had also failed, which was odd. She supposedly had perfect chakra control, but she had been acting weird during the test. One second she would be calm and collected as usual, and the next she would be bouncing off the walls. Her first two jutsu were flawless, but she had turned crazy during her clone jutsu and thrown way too much chakra into it. The results had been disastrous.

Naruto shook his head, and Ino took a seat. They sat in silence as the Academy slowly emptied.

“We can still pass,” they heard, startling them out of their respective thoughts. They looked up to see Sakura, with an uncharacteristic glint of excitement in her eye. “Mizuki-sensei told me about a rule that says that any ninja who can perform an A-rank jutsu is automatically considered a genin.”

“How are we going to get anyone to teach three Academy students an A-rank jutsu?” Ino asked. 

“The old man’s secret scroll!” Naruto shouted, excited at the prospect of his imminent promotion. The two looked at the young man, wondering why he was so excited. Quickly, he explained. “The old man has a scroll in his office with all the secret Konoha techniques on it. We grab that, and we can learn A-rank jutsu no problem!”

“Konoha’s secret techniques...Naruto, are you talking about the Hokage?” Ino asked, disbelieving. 

“Believe it!” he replied, cheerfully ignorant of the magnitude of what he was proposing.

“You want us to break into the office of the most powerful shinobi in the Land of Fire, steal his secret treasure, and learn its secrets...all so that said shinobi will promote us to genin?”  
“Yep!” Naruto responded. “Follow me!”

 

They had done it. Sakura still wasn’t sure exactly how it had happened. Naruto had strolled right up to the Hokage in his office, done some strange jutsu that was disguised by a flash of smoke, and the Hokage had been rendered unconscious, a spray of blood on his robe. Sakura and Ino had been shocked at Naruto’s violence, but when confronted about the jutsu he had used, he had only blushed and insisted that the ‘old pervert’ would be fine.

Then Naruto had uncovered a secret panel, grabbed the scroll, and the three had jumped out the window. They were now in the forest, examining the scroll. Naruto had studied the scroll for all of five minutes before he moved to one end of the clearing to practice his chosen jutsu. Ino had taken somewhat more time to decide, but had then moved to her own corner of the clearing. Now Sakura was arguing with herself about what to learn.

“Pick something big and flashy!” Inner Sakura demanded. Inner Sakura was a chalk outline of Sakura that existed in Sakura’s mind. For some reason, she had large triangular ears on her head, like a dog or cat, and a large, fluffy tail. 

“I am not going to learn something big and flashy. I want something with strategic value.” Sakura replied, annoyed.

“Ooh, there! That Chidori thing! You could punch through people!”

Sakura shuddered at the thought. “What about this? Chakra scalpels. They’re precise and clean, and look like they could have non-combat use.”

“Ugh,” Inner Sakura replied, “I’d never use that, and if you were in control we’d get creamed in close combat.” Sakura had to admit that this was true, her taijutsu sucked unless she let Inner Sakura take control.

“What about that one?” Inner Sakura commented, pointing to a place on the scroll. Sakura frowned.

“A taijutsu style? You’re dreaming.”

“Look again, bubblegum. It’s a taijutsu - ninjutsu integration style. It’s a martial art for sealless ninjutsu users.”

“How does that help us?” Sakura asked. “I hate taijutsu, and you can’t even use ninjutsu.”

“Yes,” Inner Sakura said, getting a crafty look, “but I can do taijutsu while you handle chakra transformation for ninjutsu.” Inner Sakura sounded extremely pleased with herself.

“That’s...brilliant!” Sakura thought. She immediately began memorizing the relevant parts of the scroll. When that was done, she began practicing coordinating with Inner Sakura to use the techniques.

 

An hour later, Iruka found them still practicing in the clearing. The large scroll was currently in Ino’s possession, but all three seemed worn out.

“Iruka-sensei!” Naruto cried in greeting, “We did it, we all learned A-rank jutsu!”

Iruka looked like he was about to laugh, or perhaps cry. Instead, he settled for yelling.

“Do you three have any idea what you’ve done?” Iruka raged, “You have stolen the secrets of Konoha’s ninja. If these were to get out, every ninja village in the five countries would know the weaknesses of our techniques. Your actions could have cost many of our ninja their lives!”

“Could have? Don’t you mean ‘will’ cost Konoha ninja their lives?” Mizuki said from the branch he was on. “Say what you will about the demon brats, but they sure know how to execute an infiltration.”

“Mizuki-sensei?” Naruto asked, “What’s going on?”

“He played us,” Sakura responded, with a hint of a growl, “made us do his dirty work. There’s no secondary promotion clause, is there?”

“Oh, the promotion clause is real. Too bad you won’t have the days you’ll need to learn the techniques. In fact, I’m afraid this day is the last you’ll ever see!” Mizuki threw the large shuriken that was on his back at Naruto. At the same time, Ino threw the scroll to Sakura, still facing Mizuki. The shuriken slicked Naruto in half - and he promptly puffed into smoke.

“I’m glad all that work wasn’t for nothing,” Ino murmured. Then, she vanished. Mizuki immediately recognized the genjutsu, and performed a Release to counter it. He smirked as he saw the young woman charging him, fist raised. He raised his hand to catch her fist - and it passed right through him. His eyes widened in shock as he felt a strong blow to his lower back.

Mizuki rolled with the blow - straight towards Sakura, who had tied the scroll to her back. Mizuki came out of his roll with a kick, which Sakura dodged. Mizuki was surprised by this, as Sakura had never done well in taijutsu, but not so surprised that he allowed Sakura’s return punch to land. Sakura pressed the attack with a spin kick, and to Mizuki’s astonishment, Sakura shifted into Iruka midway through the motion.

“Looking like Iruka doesn’t put you near his level!” Mizuki said, grabbing on to the leg he had blocked and throwing Sakura across the clearing by it. As she flew through the air, she split into multiple Irukas - all of whom landed on their feet. This unnerved Mizuki somewhat - the level of concentration and control needed for that kind of maneuver was unreal. Of course, Mizuki didn’t know that Sakura had two brains.

Then Mizuki was busy dodging Irukas. He knew only one of them was real, but he couldn’t tell which. He decided to let one of them “hit” him with a punch, and, as luck would have it, that one made contact. He immediately grabbed the fist and pulled Sakura into an armbar, ignoring the false Irukas. To his shock, anger, and considerable pain, he was struck simultaneously by nearly a dozen Irukas - who continued to pummel him, grinning madly all the while.

The real Iruka had only stood and gaped as three of his ‘failing’ students had systematically destroyed their rogue chuunin instructor. Now, he hurried into the clearing to stop the carnage.

“Alright, that’s enough! Front and center, you three - and please, someone tell me you’ve still got the scroll.”

“Right here, Iruka-sensei!” Naruto said, coming out from behind a tree with the scroll.

“Good. Keep hold of it while we go to the Hokage’s office, then you can explain to us what you were thinking.”

 

The Hokage seemed calmer than Ino expected. When he asked the three what happened, Ino stepped forward. “Mizuki informed Sakura about the secondary genin exam. She came to tell us, and we devised a plan to take the secret scroll and learn its techniques. We worked on mastering our respective techniques for half an hour, then choreographed a display of our new techniques for when Iruka-sensei arrived, using the ‘scroll’ as bait to control Iruka’s movements.

The scroll was actually a henge’d shadow clone of Naruto’s. When Mizuki exposed his betrayal, we proceeded with our ‘demonstration’ on Mizuki. I cast a three-tier genjutsu on him and knocked him toward Sakura, who used the Dual Fist to fight Mizuki while henging into Iruka, then making several clones.

Naruto then mixed shadow clones henge’d as Iruka in with Sakura’s normal clones, which allowed us to incapacitate Mizuki.” Ino almost continued to ask about Mizuki’s comment about ‘demon brats’, but held her tongue.

“Well,” the Hokage said after a moment of deliberation, “it seems you three have had quite the adventure. Do you two have anything to add?”

“He called us demon brats.” This came from Sakura, who had noted the odd insult, and wanted to know how the Hokage would react. She was surprised to see guilt flash across the Hokage’s face before it returned to his normal, contemplative face. “Based on your reaction, I’d say you know why.”

The Hokage sighed. They were going to learn eventually, he supposed. Better that it be from someone they trust than an enemy.

“Do you remember the stories about the Kyuubi?” Three nods. “The story says that the Fourth Hokage gave his life to kill the Kyuubi, but that’s not entirely true. The Kyuubi couldn’t be killed, but instead was sealed in the bodies of nine infants. The identities of those nine infants is an S-rank secret, and its revelation is punishable by death. I am surprised that Mizuki had infiltrated us to such an extent that he was able to identify you three as demon containers.”

A long, uncomfortable silence fell at this. The Hokage waited several moments, and then decided to proceed. “Now, it seems that all three of you have mastered A-rank jutsu, so I expect you all to report tomorrow for team assignments. Iruka will give you your headbands. You are dismissed.”

Naruto let out an excited yell as he pulled Iruka out of the room. Sakura followed, but Ino lagged behind.

“Yes, Ino?” Sarutobi prodded.

“Hokage-sama, is it possible for the demon to get out of us?” Ino asked reluctantly.

The Hokage considered this. “I suppose it is possible, but I find it unlikely. The Fourth Hokage was a sealing genius. Why, has something happened?”

“Well, I’ve only tried my clan’s jutsu once, but when I did, it was strange. Usually our bodies go limp while the jutsu is active, since we project all of our chakra into our target. When I tried, my body remained conscious - but it wasn’t me in it. It scared me, so I stopped the jutsu and haven’t tried since.”

Sarutobi pondered for a moment, then said, “it’s possible that the Kyuubi had taken control, but I suspect that the Kyuubi’s chakra allows you to remain conscious without altering your mind. If you’d like, we could perform some experiments to find out.”

“Would it be safe?” Ino asked, a quiver in her voice.

“I can call in a sealing specialist and a barrier specialist to contain and retrieve the demon chakra if necessary.” Sarutobi replied with confidence.

“I’d like that,” Ino responded, relieved, “can we start tomorrow?”

Sarutobi chuckled. “Why don’t you take a week to get used to being a genin, and we’ll see then?”

“Thank you, Hokage-sama,” Ino said, with genuine gratitude. She bowed deeply, and left.

Sarutobi sighed. Things were definitely going to get interesting around Konoha.

 

Asuma sighed to himself as he examined his three new recruits. They were the successors to the Ino-Shika-Cho trio that had been so successful in the last group of recruits, but as they lounged on the bridge where he had told them to meet, Asuma was having difficulty seeing the resemblance. Ino was leaning against the rail, idly examining the trees as she twirled her hair around one finger. Chouji had sat down, cross-legged, with his back to the opposite rail. He was contentedly munching on a bag of potato chips. As Asuma watched, Chouji finished off the bag - and promptly pulled a new one from his pack, and started devouring it as well. Shikamaru was likely the worst of the lot. Upon arriving, and seeing their instructor was nowhere to be found, he had promptly fallen supine, head pillowed on both hands, and was idly watching the clouds go by.

None of which was encouraging to Asuma. Still, he did have a job to do, so without further hesitation, he leaped from the branch he had been observing from and, with a loud percussive sound, landed in the middle of the bridge hard enough to shake it. Ino jumped, Chouji ignored it, and Shikamaru’s head bounced against the wooden planks. Sitting up, the latter fixed Asuma with a baleful glare.

“You’re late,” he said, resentful.

“Rule one,” Asuma replied, “the strongest ninja is always right. Would you care to prove your theory, or do you want to go with mine?” With this, he grinned.

Shikamaru sighed. “I suppose your theory is that we we all early?”

“Exactly!” Asuma replied, “Now, to business. First, I want to hear introductions from each of you. You know, your names, likes and dislikes, dreams, that sort of thing.

“What about you? We know less about you than you do about us,” Ino pointed out. 

Asuma shrugged. “My name’s Asuma Sarutobi. I enjoy Go and Shogi. I dislike people commenting about my smoking, and my dream is to keep Konoha safe and the Will of Fire burning strong for generations to come. Now, your turn first.” Here he pointed at Chouji.

“I’m Chouji Akimichi. I like the last morsel of food at any meal. I hate when people comment about my weight, and my dream is to become a great warrior like my father.” Asuma nodded at this, and gestured towards Ino to continue.

“My name is Ino Yamanaka. I like the language of flowers, boys, and new clothes. I dislike people with large foreheads who think they’re pretty, taijutsu, and getting dirty. My dream is to find my true love and spend my life on long ninja missions with him.” Ino had spontaneously developed large pink hearts where her eyes should have been. Asuma ignored this, and continued on to Shikamaru.

“I’m Shikamaru Nara, I don’t really like anything, I dislike things that cause me trouble, and my dream is to become a chunin, settle down, and not have to worry about much.” Asuma nodded. It was pretty much what he had expected from this group.

“Alright, now that we all know a little bit about each other, you’ll have the rest of the day off. We’re going to meet at training ground 10 tomorrow morning at 7 AM. We’re going to be doing physical training, so eat light and remember to wear something you don’t mind getting dirty.” This last was clearly aimed at Ino, who groaned.

The next day, all three of them showed up to find Asuma already in the center of the clearing. He was sitting cross-legged, and seemed to be deep in thought. As they approached, however, he jumped to his feet, and immediately put his hands in his pockets.

“Alright,” he said, “now we get to your final exam. Before you can become genin, you have to perform a test for your jonin instructor. This test is going to be a practical test simulating field conditions. If you fail, you go back to the academy. So, the rules are simple. Hit me, and you pass. The test starts when you make an aggressive move. Oh, we’ll stop for lunch around noon.”

After saying this, Asuma sat down again, cross-legged once more. He didn’t close his eyes this time, though. This was probably a good move, since Shikamaru threw two kunai at the center of his torso as he fell to the ground. Asuma leaned back, and then flipped his still-crossed legs over his head. The two kunai buried themselves in the ground near Asuma’s neck as he completed his odd roll by using his now-grounded knees to lift his torso once more into an upright position. It had been a good throw - Shikamaru had identified the most difficult place to dodge, and had clearly realized that he needed to go all-out against the jonin.

Ino and Choji, however, seemed a little concerned about Shikamaru’s bloodthirstiness - that is, they were until they saw Asuma’s improbable evasive maneuver. Asuma hoped the demonstration was enough to encourage their best efforts as well, otherwise this was going to be a long and painful day - for them. Though by his own rules, the test had begun, Asuma was content for the moment in giving the three some time to strategize. 

The three formed a circle. Ino brushed the hair out of her eyes, and the three began debating in hushed tones. This lasted for several minutes. All three of them paused in their conversation. Then, Ino brushed the hair out of her eyes, and the three continued debating. Asuma noticed the repetition, and examined his chakra system. Yep, there was definitely some foreign tampering going on - and it looked fairly complicated. Still, the nice thing about genjutsu was that a sufficiently large pulse of chakra would break even the most complex illusion - if you knew what to look for. 

He performed the pulse without need of handsigns - his practice with Kurenai had made him somewhat adept at the maneuver - and examined his ‘new’ surroundings. Chouji was behind him and to his left, Shikamaru was to his right, and Ino was in front of him - making a very familiar handsign. She must’ve been counting on the genjutsu to keep him immobile long enough to get hit by her jutsu.

Asuma dodged left, not wanting to get too close to the devious Nara. Predictably, Chouji charged in, boulder-form, in an attempt to herd Asuma towards Shikamaru’s shadow jutsu. The shadows surrounding the area near Shikamaru gave him the advantage there, so Asuma dodged towards the fallen body of Ino. Even if she recovered as fast as her father, she would be down another 10 seconds or so - an eternity in combat.

He turned to face the oncoming Chouji. Then, he heard a movement behind him, and his instincts told him to move - so he did. He rolled to the right, hoping to avoid Chouji as well as the mystery threat. He felt something tag his right foot as he rolled. Chouji missed by a narrow margin, and then Asuma had to leap backwards as Shikamaru’s shadow pushed towards him. He landed near Ino, who was looking a little bit frustrated. Ino decided to engage him in a taijutsu match, and he was forced to inform her of the folly of that approach via a punch to her midsection that left her gasping. 

“Alright,” he said, relaxing his stance, and signaling to Chouji and Shikamaru a halt to the combat. “It looks like you guys pass.”

“Pass? Nobody even touched you.” Ino said, catching her breath.

“Wrong. As I rolled away you tagged me with your foot. It wasn’t exactly what I would call a telling blow, but anyone less than jounin level wouldn't have seen it coming. Now, for the breakdown. Ino, nice job on the genjutsu, but you have to be careful with loops - a smart ninja will be watching for something like that. I’ll have you talk to Kurenai for more tips. Chouji, good work with the herding, but we’ll have to do something about your turning radius problem. Shikamaru, I assume you did most of the planning. Having Ino fake her jutsu was a good move, but why bother if I was going to be under a genjutsu?”

“That was my idea,” Ino interjected, “I can’t use my clan justu just yet, so I figured faking it might lure you in.” Asuma nodded at this, hiding his curiosity at Ino’s revelation. 

“Alright. Well, since the test is taken care of, let’s spend the rest of the day shoring up those weaknesses I mentioned.” 

With that, their first day of training as a team began.


	2. The Dog Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiba and Tenten meet, with mixed results

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, here's chapter two. After this I'm planning on posing a chapter per week, which will probably last about three months given how much I have written right now. No guarantees on anything after that.

Kiba was just coming back from the training grounds where he had had his first meeting with his new team. They seemed nice enough, but they were both pretty quiet. Hinata clearly had some self-esteem issues - she had barely spoken three sentences all morning, and all of them had been awkwardly submissive. Shino was a little different. He was just as quiet, but seemed much more sure of himself. When Shino spoke, it was carefully measured to convey necessary information; no extraneous comments were made. 

Kurenai seemed pretty cool. She was obviously going to be strict, but that was probably good. Hinata would need to be prodded into practicing, and Shino and Kiba were reliant enough on their respective clan techniques that the general training approach would help them branch out a little.

Kiba was interrupted in his pondering of his new group by a very loud, very angry female scream. It was immediately followed by a huge crash. Kiba was tempted to make haste away from the sound of conflict, but there was a possibility that someone was genuinely in trouble, so he decided to investigate. 

It took him a few minutes, but he found the site of the altercation fairly easily - he just followed the loud crashing noises. The clearing he entered looked as though it had recently experienced a natural disaster of some form. Branches and the remains of broken rocks littered the area, and there were various weapons scattered around the area. A young woman was standing in the middle of the clearing, and she looked to be the source of the screaming. She seemed to be throwing an impressive variety of weaponry at two green blurs. They moved around too quickly for Kiba to get a good look at them, but they were clearly ninja, and very fast ninja at that.

He couldn’t tell if the green blurs were attacking the woman, or if it was the other way around. The smell of the girl reached his nose, and he determined at the very least that she was probably not enjoying herself. Kiba could tell she was on her cycle, and that meant the anger he was seeing was likely of the murderous variety. So he decided that the best way to find out what was going on was to cause a disturbance. He stepped into the clearing, seemingly oblivious to the carnage, and said, “Excuse me! I’m sorry to interrupt your fun, but I was wondering if I could talk to the young lady there.”

The two green blurs stopped, and the young woman’s baleful glare turned his direction. Kiba was shocked to find the two green blurs resolve themselves into a larger and smaller version of a roughly human shape, with black bowl cuts, large eyebrows, astonishingly large eyes, and clad entirely in green spandex.

“Certainly!” the larger called, in a tone that was entirely too enthusiastic, “Tenten can be spared from our youthful exercise for a moment, but be warned! Her flames of youth are burning brightly today!” With that, the two green...things sped off to do...something. Leaving Kiba with an extremely annoyed Tenten.

“What do you want?” Tenten asked, and the hostility in her voice was clear.

“I...uh..it just sort of seemed like you were getting kind of worked up and could...maybe use a break?” he said this tentatively, hoping she would appreciate the gesture. He was very wrong.

“What, you think just because I’m a woman I can’t handle myself against those two nutjobs? Well I’ll tell you what, Mr. Knight-In-Shining-Bullshit, I’ve been training with them for close to a year now, and I haven’t slowed down or backed off of any training I’ve been given. So thanks for the ‘rescue’, but I’ve got training to finish.” With this, she stomped off, muttering, ‘asshole’ under her breath.

Kiba, stunned, just stood there for a few moments, before slowly heading home. He wasn’t entirely sure he had misread the situation, but apparently the girl took interruptions to her training regimen seriously. He supposed he would have to apologize, and sooner was usually better than later when it came to apologies.

 

To his credit, Kiba hesitated only slightly before knocking on the door to Tenten’s apartment. If there was one thing he had learned from his family, it was this: apologizing to an angry female was never a bad move. As the door opened, Kiba was disheartened to see that Tenten looked irate - not a good start. 

“What do you want?” Tenten asked, with somewhat less fury than expected. In fact, she seemed tired. That was to be expected, Kiba supposed, but rather than feeling better that Tenten would be unable to achieve full rage potential, he found himself feeling worse - as if her discomfort were his fault somehow. 

“I just wanted to apologize - I didn’t mean to call you weak or anything. I just noticed how things were going, and figured you might want some time to cool down. I can’t imagine having to train with those two all day, every day...I don’t know how you do it.”

Tenten considered this for a moment. “I’ve never really been a patient person, but when the options are ringing ear drums and a pathological fear of the color green, or becoming one more mediocre kunoichi,” Tenten replied, stepping away from the open door in an obvious invitation, “I guess I’m just willing to put up with a lot to make myself stronger, and that includes Gai and Lee.” Here she paused, her gaze lowering to the floor near her feet. “I’m sorry I went off on you like that. I’ve just had a really bad day.”

Kiba stepped into the room, absently responding, “Yeah, I could smell it.” Tenten’s apartment wasn’t exactly what he was expecting. Then again, he wasn’t entirely sure what he was expecting. A living area opened on his left. The wall nearest him was occupied by a long green couch. Beyond the couch was a small fireplace inset into the adjoining wall. The opposite wall had two plush chairs in either corner, and an impressive weapons display mounted on the wall. To his right, a short wall divided the kitchen from the living space. Directly across from him he saw a short hallway with two doors on either side, which he presumed led to the bedroom and bathroom, respectively. 

After his cursory inspection, he turned back to Tenten, only to find her giving him a very strange expression. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was anger, embarrassment, or confusion, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t good for him.

“You could smell what, exactly?” she demanded.

Crap. 

“I...uh...well, you see...what I meant was...” here Kiba paused, only to see that Tenten had, in his ramblings, quite clearly decided angry was the appropriate emotion. He sighed, then continued more deliberately. “We don’t really like to spread it around, but the Inuzuka sense of smell is pretty strong. We notice smells that normal people don’t, and so that gives us access to more information. We can tell when there’s blood around, and, well, I guess that extends to menstruation, even though they don’t really smell the same. I smelled that you were having your period, and figured I’d try to make things a little easier for you - or at least keep those two weirdos from prying sharp objects out of various orifices for the next week.”

Tenten was mortified. “Great,” she said, a disconsolate tone in her voice, “I get a splitting headache from my over enthusiastic team, massive cramping, and now I find out that I smell funny. You sure know how to cheer a girl up.” 

“You don’t smell funny,” Kiba responded, “you just smell like you...only a little different. Kind of like if Lee started wearing red instead of green. It’d be different, but he would still be Lee.”

“I...smell like me? What does that even mean? Have you been sniffing me, or - God! - my clothes?” Kiba’s danger sense started pulling every alarm it had. If Tenten continued that line of thought, his existence would be in question very shortly.

“No, no! Nothing like that! I can smell everyone, just by being around them. It’s sort of like being able to tell people apart by their voices. I don’t go around...sniffing people. That would be creepy and weird...unless it was my mate I was sniffing.” This last Kiba added thoughtfully. When Hana had started dating, she had had a couple of messy breakups when the guys she was dating were uncomfortable with her sniffing them. It was a comfort thing, and a little bit territorial, but it was perfectly sensible to an Inuzuka. Apparently others didn’t necessarily think so.

Tenten, clearly, was in this second camp, as she was staring at him as if he had grown a second head. Then, shaking her head, she stated, “I appreciate you coming by, but my apparently-obvious cramps are making me a little grumpy at the moment. Maybe you should come by and try this again when I’m feeling better. Or never. Never would be okay too.”

This was clearly a dismissal, but Kiba still felt bad from before. Well, there was one option left - a desperate ploy, to be sure, but if he could get Tenten feeling better, his own guilt would be assuaged and he could put this all behind him.

“I can help with the cramps, if you want. Hana is impossible to live with during her time, unless she gets a good foot rub every now and again. I usually get ‘elected’ for the job, since I’m her brother.”

Tenten was conflicted. On the one hand, she was grumpy and angry, which made her want to punt Kiba out the door. On the other hand, her feet hurt. A lot. On the third hand, Kiba could apparently smell her menstruating, which made her feel indescribably gross. On the fourth hand, her cramps hurt, and apparently Kiba thought he could fix them. On the fifth hand, she would have to let this almost-stranger touch her feet. On the sixth hand, Kiba was clearly feeling guilty and wanted to help - Tenten didn’t think he would try anything funny.

Deciding that six hands were more than enough, Tenten sighed. “I suppose if you can really make the cramps better, I’m willing to give it a shot. But if you try anything, anything, I will personally fix you...and your little dog, too.” At this, Akamaru gave a startled ‘arf’, and abandoned his traditional place on Kiba’s head in favor hiding behind him. 

Kiba paled as he considered the probability of her executing her threat - she was a master of every sharp-edged tool on the planet, after all. However, he simply nodded and took a seat at one end of the long couch. “You can lay on the couch, and put your feet in my lap. It’s the most comfortable position for both of us, even if it might be a little awkward.” Tenten nodded, and proceeded as he instructed.

Five minutes later, Tenten was a blissful puddle of non-achy woman-goo. “How do you do that?” she managed to ask between groans. It was like he was rubbing her whole body, not just her feet - she could feel every muscle in her body relaxing.

“Like I said, I got a lot of practice,” Kiba replied, continuing to take note of spots that received particularly enthusiastic responses, “when failure means that your sister will literally turn into a raging bitch, you learn to pick up massage techniques pretty quickly.”

Tenten only moaned some more in response.

Kiba, however, was beginning to have an issue. Tenten’s pleasured moans were beginning to cause a reaction in his...imagination, and with Tenten’s feet in his lap the probability that his ‘imagination’ would be noticed was increasing quickly. Tenten had made clear the consequences of ‘trying anything’, so for the sake of his manhood - and Akamaru’s doghood - he patted Tenten’s feet lightly, then stood up. 

Tenten made a little disappointed sound, but then sat up. “Thanks, Kiba, that really helped a lot. I don’t suppose you work on a contract basis?” She smiled as she said this, but the truth was she was - at the moment - seriously considering paying the man. Those hands were wonders of modern medicine, as far as she was concerned.

Kiba considered this for the moment, while maintaining his position facing away from Tenten. “I’ll make you a deal,” he finally replied, “anytime you need a footrub, ditch your team training and come get me. You train me for a few hours in weapons, and I’ll rub your feet until you feel better.”

Tenten frowned thoughtfully. “Won’t your sensei have an issue with that? I can skip out on Gai no problem, he’s used to me working solo, but Kurenai seems a little more strict than that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kiba reassured her, “Kurenai is pretty strict, but she knows that she’s not very strong with weapons. We’ve got Asuma training us with some basics now, but I’m sure she’d jump at the chance to have me train with Konoha’s genius weapons mistress.”

“Excellent!” Tenten said, noting but not reacting to the compliment, “That sounds like a deal then. I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.”

“See you then,” Kiba replied, letting himself out of the apartment. 

“Arf arf,” Akamaru noted as the door closed. 

“No, Akamaru, she is not my bitch. She’s pretty much my sensei at this point, and maybe a friend. That’s all I really want, anyway.” 

 

The next day, Tenten dropped by Kiba’s traditional training ground early. She was feeling much better, but could still use a break from the Guy/Lee antics that composed a normal day training with Team Guy. She was also eager to start training Kiba - she had never had a student before, and she was looking forward to it.

Kurenai appeared first out of the group. “Oh, Tenten, isn’t it?” She asked in greeting. “What brings you here?”

“Kurenai-sensei,” Tenten said, bowing slightly, “Kiba recently asked me to train him in weapons, so I was hoping I could steal him today so we can get started.”

Kurenai thought about this for a moment, but replied, “I don’t see why not, as long as you two are actually working and not slacking off.” This last was said with a note of steel in it.

“I’ll work him just as hard as you would...though maybe not quite as much as Guy-sensei would.”

Kurenai chuckled at this, but made no further comment. Kiba arrived a few minutes later, which was somewhat of a relief to Tenten - she wouldn’t have to explain to the others.

“Oi, Tenten,” Kiba said in greeting, “ready to go?” Tenten responded in the affirmative, and led Kiba to her traditional training ground.

It was a wide clearing, surrounded by rock on three sides, and large trees on the fourth. The rock walls were scarred and smashed in places, while some of the trees resembled a much-abused dartboard. In the middle of the clearing was a single large post, eight feet tall and four feet wide. It had several marks from edged weapons, but seemed in much better repair than the trees nearby.

“Okay,” Tenten began, taking on a lecturing tone, “the first rule of weapons training is that you are to address me as ‘Mistress’ at all times.” Kiba gaped at her, until he noticed the twinkle of mischief in her eye. Then he glared at her. She laughed.

“Alright...I guess we can skip that part...for now,” and here her mouth curved into a wicked smile. Then, she sobered. “The first thing we’re going to cover is the basic thrown weapons, kunai and shuriken. First, though, I’d like to get a sense of your fighting style. I think from what I’ve heard about your family that it’s fairly taijutsu-intensive, but a demonstration would help me decide how I want to train you.”

Kiba nodded, then smirked. “Yes, mistress,” he said, tauntingly, “I don’t know much of my clan’s jutsu, but me and Akamaru have the basics down.” Tenten was surprised at this, but said nothing as Kiba fed Akamaru what looked like a dog treat. Then, Akamaru grew nearly double his original size, and turned dark red. Here, Kiba paused, and suddenly he seemed...embarrassed.

“You can’t laugh at this next part,” he said, somewhat shamefaced, “I know it looks weird, but my mom says that it must be some kind of advancement in the clan’s bloodline.” Tenten, puzzled at this, reassured Kiba. “I’m sure if it’s an advantage in a fight, it can’t be that embarrassing.”

Kiba nodded, then performed several handseals. “Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique!” he called, and transformed. Tenten watched as his muscles bulged, his eyes changed to slits, and his hands and feet grew wicked-looking claws. Then, he sprouted fine red fur on the backs of his hands, and on his face. It stopped near the center of his face, leaving a broad T of bald skin around his eyes, nose, and mouth. Tenten was just wondering how far the fur spread, when Kiba’s hood was pushed back by what looked like two large, pointed ears. 

Then, he sprouted a tail. 

Tenten just stared. She had heard of the Inuzuka technique that gave them beast-like attributes, but this was nothing like what she had heard about. Kiba noticed her staring...and his ears flattened towards his skull and his tail drooped. It was quite possibly the cutest thing Tenten had ever seen.

Tenten coughed, trying desperately not to laugh. Kiba just looked so sad...it made her want to run up and give him a big hug...and maybe pet him a little. Instead, she forced herself back to the task at hand, and began analyzing his transformation for strategic value. “How sensitive are those ears?” she whispered, and watched as they swiveled to track her voice. 

“If you mean to ask how good my hearing is, I have better range of hearing, and can identify where sounds are coming from better, but I’ve got to be pointing them in the right direction.” Tenten nodded. It made sense, based on how they were shaped. 

“The claws might be a problem. I was going to work on thrown weapons today, but it looks like those things might interfere with getting a good grip on a kunai. Shuriken should be okay...I’ll think about how to work around the claws. How does your tail handle?”

Kiba blushed a little at this, as he realized she was talking about tactical maneuvering and not...handling. “It’s a little more flexible than your average dog’s tail, but nowhere near something prehensile like a monkey’s tail. Mostly, it’s good for balance.”

“Okay,” Tenten responded absently as she pulled out a scroll. She unsealed a stack of targets from the scroll, and with several casual flicks, threw them to stick on the walls of the training ground. “I want to start by assessing your basic accuracy with standard ninja tools, so for now we’ll stick to kunai and shuriken. Do the shuriken first, since they’ll probably be a better measure of your accuracy.”

“Should Akamaru train throwing weapons as well?” Kiba asked. Tenten was puzzled at this.

“Umm...Kiba, he doesn’t have any hands. How is he going to throw anything?” 

Kiba then realized he hadn’t completed his normal combat preparations, and immediately performed his Man-Beast clone technique. When the smoke cleared, there were two bestial red-furred Kibas in the clearing. “Like that,” the real Kiba said.

“Uh...well, it would be good if you could integrate throwing into your fighting style as much as possible, but...well, I don't really know how to train a dog.”

“Akamaru’s smart,” Kiba replied, “just tell me what to do, and he’ll copy me.” Shrugging, Tenten gave Kiba and Akamaru a stack of shuriken each, and told Kiba to throw them at the targets. This went well; Kiba hit most of the targets in the center, and only a few were off. Akamaru threw next, and while he wasn’t nearly as accurate, did manage to hit the targets.

Tenten tried throwing while moving next, then moved on to aerial throws, and grew increasingly convinced that thrown weapons were not going to be Kiba’s forte. He could throw just find from a standstill, and was moderately accurate while moving normally, but any of the supernatural leaps, turns, and spins that the Inuzuka favored would kill his accuracy. Akamaru only hit the target four times out of ten while moving, and was a genuine danger to himself and others when trying to throw at combat-level maneuvering.

Kunai were next, and as Tenten expected the results were not encouraging. They could both hold the kunai loosely, but their claws interfered with the solid grip needed for a good throw. No, throwing weapons would never be Kiba’s strong suit.

Still, it was a good basic skill to have, so Tenten had them both throwing shuriken all day. They took a break for a quick lunch, then met up again for more throwing. By the end of the day, Kiba’s shoulders and arms were throbbing, and Tenten’s fingers hurt from prying shuriken out of rocks. Tenten finally ended the training session as the sun began to fade to orange.

“Okay, that’s enough,” she called, “you’re both getting better. We’re going to train throwing off and on more later, but I think next time I want to run through some options for weapons with you.”

“Yeah,” Kiba agreed, attempting to wipe dirt off his face, and only succeeding in smearing more dirt on, “I don’t think we’ll ever be really good at throwing, but being good enough to surprise someone would be nice.” Akamaru poofed back into his natural state, and immediately began panting. 

“Akamaru’s probably your best bet for that. I think he was actually learning faster than you were,” Tenten teased, and scratched Akamaru behind the ears. Kiba was startled at this - Akamaru had a tendency to snap at strangers, and they had only been around Tenten for a little while. Still, Akamaru seemed to be enjoying the attention, so Kiba said nothing. 

“Now,” Tenten said after a moment, “I believe you have a debt to settle.” She took her socks and shoes off at this, and sat down, wiggling her toes. Kiba nodded, and sat down next to her. She put her feet in his lap, and Kiba began rubbing.

Five minutes later, Tenten was a moaning puddle again, and once again Kiba was having issues with his...imagination. However, when he tried to get up, Tenten pushed her feet firmly into Kiba’s lap - which he found uncomfortably erotic. “You’re not getting off that easy, mister,” she said, oblivious to the double meaning of her words. “I trained you all day, so five minutes is not going to do it for me. You don’t get to stop rubbing until I say so.”

So he kept rubbing. He couldn’t imagine that Tenten hadn’t noticed his erection, but she seemed oblivious. Maybe his massage was genuinely that good, but Kiba doubted it. 

Then, several minutes later, Kiba realized that her scent had gradually changed. Her natural scent was still there, under the heavy musk of her period. Added to that, however, was the spicy scent of arousal. Kiba blushed heavily at this, but luckily Tenten had her eyes closed in pleasure. He considered stopping, but she had trained him all day...and she had been kind of scary when she insisted that he keep rubbing.

Kiba kept rubbing, but he kept getting distracted by her smell. He kept thinking about it, and his hands would slow as his mind worked. Eventually, Tenten noticed. “Kiba, are your hands getting tired?”

Kiba jumped at this. His eyes locked with hers, and his blush returned. “No, sorry. I just got distracted by something.” He rubbed her feet with renewed vigor, and Tenten purred as she rested her head against the tree she was leaning on.

“Arf?” Akamaru inquired, and Kiba, who was just a little tense at this point, snapped, “NO, Akamaru, she is not my bitch!” He immediately realized the mistake he had made, and looked up to find Tenten staring at him, wide-eyed.

“Ahahaha...” he laughed nervously, “dogs have odd ideas about relationships sometimes, and when he smelled you getting excited...” Tenten flushed at this, and simultaneously glared at Kiba. He then realized that, once again, he had given away more than he intended.

“So you knew I was getting excited, and decided you’d just keep on getting me hot and bothered and then leave?” This statement, as ambiguous and convoluted as it was, pushed Kiba to heights of confusion only attainable by the innocence of a teenager first confronted with the concept that other people thought about sex.

So he responded, weakly, “Well, you did tell me to keep rubbing you until you told me to stop.” Tenten studied him, and then her glare faded to a wry look.

“I suppose I did, didn’t I? Still, you could’ve mentioned something. I mean, if we both know the other is enjoying it that much, it kind of starts feeling less like unintentional reactions and a little more like foreplay, ya know?”

Kiba stared at her, then slowly said, “You knew I was enjoying it that much?” It was Tenten’s turn to kick herself for revealing too much.

“I, uh, kind of felt it when I pushed you back down.” she said, abashed. They both sat that way for a long time, neither looking at the other, until Tenten finally decided to break the silence.

“Look, I should probably get back home, it’s getting kind of late. I’ll, uh, see you next time, okay?” She started gathering her targets and stray shuriken, still not looking at Kiba.

“Yeah,” he responded, still not entirely sure how to react to the events of the evening, “I’ll see you later, then.” With that, he left the clearing, still pondering.

 

To Kiba’s surprise, Tenten showed up a week later, to continue his weapons training. Their walk to the training ground was awkwardly silent. Kiba wanted to do something to break the silence, but couldn’t really think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound even more awkward. Eventually, they arrived at the training ground, neither of them having spoken a word to each other.

“Listen,” Tenten said, not meeting Kiba’s eyes, “if you...smell anything from now on, you should just ignore it. I know it makes you feel awkward and stuff, but I’m gonna get excited sometimes...I’m a healthy teenage girl, and that’s normal. It doesn’t mean anything, so I think it would be best if you would just...pretend you didn’t notice.”

Kiba nodded, not really knowing how to respond. He wasn’t entirely sure that ignoring it would make the problem go away, but it might at least make Tenten feel more comfortable. They stood there for several long moments, neither doing more than sneaking glances at the other, before Tenten decided she had had enough.

“Okay, this week I’m going to start working out what weapon we want to focus on for you. I’ve got a few ideas as to what will work well with your fighting style, but I’m going to throw a bunch of different things at you, including weapons I don’t think will work well, so you can make your own decision about what feels most comfortable. We’ll start with swords, since they’re the most common.”

Tenten was unprepared for the fear that rose in Kiba's countenance as she finished.

“You're going to throw swords at me?” he asked.

Tenten laughed. “Not literally, idiot. I mean I'm going to have you try a bunch of weapons, not actually throw them at you.”

And so the training began. Kiba couldn’t even remember all the different weapon types he tried that day. Most of them, like the sword, were single-handed weapons. Kiba was okay with these, but they sort of interfered with the clawing attacks that were his specialty, due to his grip on the weapon. Two-handed weapons were worse - Kiba couldn’t even see any logic behind Tenten telling him to use the three-section staff, it had wound up hitting Kiba or Akamaru more often than the target dummy. 

Kiba was most comfortable with gauntlet-type weapons. A wrist brace with three claws extended from it worked fairly well. A medieval-style gauntlet didn’t interfere too much, but he couldn’t use his claws effectively since they were wrapped up. Tenten had him try a bladed shield, which had also worked pretty well, but he found blocking with it awkward - he was trained to dodge, and just taking hits like that grated on his nerves. 

Finally, Kiba decided on a somewhat mechanical rig that had some similarities with the triple-clawed bracer. Its base was a fingerless metal gauntlet that covered his palm, the back of his hand, and extended to cover his forearm. To either side of his forearm, a long blade extended from his elbow up to his wrist. The palm of the mechanism had a trigger that, when pressed, would slide the forearm blades forward, creating a sort of metal pincer that extended about a foot in front of his hand. When retracted, the blades were good for parrying and increased the effectiveness of his Piercing Fang, and when extended the ‘claws’ allowed him to engage with more conventional kenjutsu users without fear of losing fingers. 

Overall, Kiba was satisfied with his weapon of choice, and Tenten seemed satisfied as well. Kiba then sat down to perform his ‘payment’, and, as requested, did his best to ignore Tenten’s growing arousal. It wasn’t easy for him - the smell alone sent his mind racing to places that would probably get him skewered if Tenten knew about it - but he persevered, and at the end of the day Tenten left happy, and Kiba found that he was as well. 

After that, their training sessions didn’t seem nearly as awkward, and Kiba found that he enjoyed his weekly break from his team’s frequent awkward silences.


	3. The Wave Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Wave mission is briefly touched upon, as is Naruto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three here, and the first chapter with actual smut. Enjoy!

Naruto lay in an unfamiliar bed, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. The last two days had been an emotional rollercoaster for him. He was excited when he had finally gotten a C rank mission. Then, he was terrified when the Demon Brothers attacked, and then determined as he realized how useless he had been. Then Zabuza had appeared, and Naruto had been more afraid than he had ever been - but the determination of his previous encounter had carried him through, and he had managed to free Kakashi from Zabuza’s water prison. A rush of pride from that, and then more fear as Kakashi explained that Zabuza was still alive, and would be coming back. 

Now Naruto was trying, very hard, to ignore the muffled sounds coming from the room below him. Tsunami had seemed like a nice enough woman. She seemed very motherly, kind and considerate in a way that was unfamiliar to Naruto, but somehow reassuring. That is, until he had laid down in bed, and couldn’t sleep because of a muffled groaning.

It most likely went unnoticed by the others in the room, who had quickly fallen asleep, but Naruto hadn’t been able to sleep, and now he was getting annoyed on top of everything else. He wanted to know what the noise was, and why it was affecting him so...uncomfortably. He could do it...he was, after all, a ninja, and acquiring sensitive information was part of the job. His desire, however, was warring with his sense of morality. Spying on an enemy nation was one thing, but the noise was coming from Tsunami's room, and spying on an enemy was a little different from spying on a woman in her bedroom.

Still...she knew there were guests in the house, that her room was right under the guest room, and that they were only staying for a week. Her having chosen the very first day they arrived to engage in whatever she was doing suggested to Naruto that, whatever she was doing, she didn’t mind the idea of being caught too much. 

His rationale firmly in place, Naruto silently slipped out of his futon, and carefully sneaked down the stairs. He made his way to the door that was the source of the noises and, as carefully as he could, opened the door just a crack. The sight that greeted him caused him to freeze, then slowly wipe the blood from his nose.

Tsunami’s round ass was sticking up in the air, displaying the red valley of her glistening sex to Naruto. Tsunami’s hand was between her legs, gently moving a polished metal shaft up and down that slit. Her back arched down to a pillow that supported her head. Naruto could clearly see her pleasure-filled face, and one flawless breast. Naruto leaned back against the doorframe, careful not to disturb the door itself, and reached under the waistband of his pajamas to stroke his painfully erect cock. As he did this, Tsunami gently inserted the object into herself, moaning once more as the tool entered her. She began slowly pumping it in and out of herself, and Naruto found his hand keeping pace with hers, gently stroking down as the object pushed into her. 

He was getting into the rhythm, imagining himself pushing in and out of her instead of the dildo. He was so into it, in fact, that he almost groaned when Tsunami stopped, slowly pulling the metal shaft out of herself. He quickly replaced his penis, making ready to bolt in case Tsunami was getting up. Instead, however, he saw the toy switch to Tsunami’s other hand, which now hovered above her ass. She placed the object against her anus, and slowly began to work the phallus in. 

Naruto bit his lip, trying desperately not to moan and give himself away as Tsunami began softly rubbing her slit with one hand, while the other continued its undulating penetration. Then, Tsunami pushed the object deep into herself, and Naruto felt his cock twitch against his hand. He hadn’t even realized he had started stroking himself again. 

Tsunami’s moans took on an urgency as the dildo pushed into her ass, and the hand that was teasing her clit began moving faster. Naruto was tempted to increase his pace as well, but forced himself to continue pumping at the speed of the toy, which began pushing in and out of Tsunami at an increasing speed. He could see sweat beading on Tsunami’s body, and her muscles began to tense as both of her hands began working frantically. Tsunami began grunting with the pleasure she was giving herself, and the noises began to pick up in frequency and pitch. Naruto felt his orgasm build as Tsunami’s muscles all tightened at once, and her lips pressed together to hold back a scream as she reached her climax. Naruto then felt the hot, urgent pumping of his own orgasm, as he came on his shirt. He watched Tsunami slowly pull the dildo's full length out of her ass, and then quickly and silently moved back to his own room. He didn’t see Tsunami look to her now-open door, and smile.

 

The next day, Kakashi took them to the forest and taught them how to climb trees using chakra. Naruto was a bit distracted by thoughts of last night’s events - so much so, that Sasuke made it about halfway up the tree before Naruto had even hit a quarter of the distance. Naruto was determined to work even harder after that, but only made it halfway up before dinner time. 

Dinner was an awkward affair. Sasuke kept shooting him superior looks, but Naruto didn’t notice because he was trying as hard as he could not to look at Tsunami. Every time he did, he thought about the position she had been in last night, and the way her body looked as it shone with sweat. Naruto jumped as he felt someone move up behind him.

“More rice?” Tsunami asked politely. Naruto, blushing furiously, quickly nodded his head. Tsunami leaned over to put more rice in his bowl...and steam came out of Naruto’s ears as her breast brushed against his arm. Naruto leaped out of his seat, twisting in midair to avoid pushing his chair into Tsunami, and sped out the door, quickly yelling, “Thanksforthetraingottagofoodbye!”

Everyone in the room blinked at this, then Tsunami shrugged. “Anyone else want more rice?” she asked, smiling.

Naruto was panting by the time he reached the clearing they had been training at. He hadn’t slowed down the entire way here, so he took a moment to catch his breath before facing the tree he had been training on. He didn’t know how he was going to survive the next week in the same house with Tsunami, but he had a good idea about tonight - he would just spend all night training, and no one would question his absence. 

So he did, and by the end of the night he had made it all the way up to the top of the tree. Cheering, he made his way back down the tree, careful to keep his chakra under control - and promptly passed out.

 

Naruto awoke to the gentle rustling of cloth. Groaning, he looked around to find himself in a clearing, with an attractive young girl nearby. The girl had long brown hair, a heart-shaped face, and was wearing a yukata. She seemed to be picking flowers. She smiled as he awoke, but said nothing.

“Ahhh, I slept great!” Naruto cried, cheerfully, “sorry if I messed with your flower-picking. My name’s Naruto, what’s yours?”

“My name is Haku, it is nice to meet you, Naruto-san. You weren’t in the way at all. Though I must admit that I was surprised to see you sleeping in a forest clearing.”

“Oh, I was training! I’m a shinobi, but I guess I overdid it last night.” Naruto said, blissfully ignorant of the dangers of revealing such a fact to a stranger. “Watcha pickin?”

“It is a plant called Winter Cherry. It’s used in several medicines I’m making.” Haku replied, avoiding any mention of the patient. 

“Cool! Can I help? You’re looking for that weird ball looking thing, right?” The plant Haku was looking for did indeed have a red, papery bulb at one end, so Haku nodded. Naruto hunted around for several minutes, then displayed his find with pride. It did indeed have a bulb on one end - but there were yellow petals poking out of the bud. He had found an immature dandelion.

Haku giggled at this, and shook her head. “That’s a dandelion, Naruto-san. The bulb I am looking for is red. Like this one, see?” and here Haku displayed one of the bulbs she had already picked. Naruto nodded sagely as he examined the bulb, and then went back to hunting.

“I got it, Haku-chan!” Naruto cried, bringing his new acquisition over. It was red, but was a flower rather than the papery object Haku was looking for. Patiently, Haku explained the difference between the two. Naruto once again tore off into the underbrush, and this time found the plant Haku was looking for. 

“That’s exactly it, Naruto-san...where did you find those?”

Naruto led Haku to the batch of plants he had found, and they both started picking. 

“So, why do you train so hard?” Haku asked, while idly picking flowers, “is being a shinobi that important to you?”

“Yeah! I’m gonna be the next Hokage someday, and in order to do that I’ve gotta be really strong.”

Haku smiled at this. “I’ve heard that true strength comes from a desire to protect those most important to you. Do you think that’s true?”

Naruto considered his past experiences when his precious people were in danger, and realized that it was. “Definitely!” he said, “I’m going to find more and more precious people, and my desire to protect them will make me the strongest shinobi in the world!” 

Haku laughed at this twist of logic. “Thank you for your help, Naruto-san. I hope you stay safe, and that you always have the strength to protect your precious people.” 

Naruto nodded firmly at this, and hopped up to his feet. “Well, I better get back to training! It was nice meeting you, Haku-chan.” Naruto hopped off into the woods, already thinking about how to train - and how to avoid Tsunami for the rest of their stay.

 

His avoidance plans didn’t work very well. After his stunt the first day, Kakashi kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t overextend himself again and ‘accidentally’ pass out in the woods. The necessity of food also required contact with Tsunami because, whatever else could be said about Tsunami, she was undoubtedly an excellent cook. During many of these meals, Naruto found himself twitching like a startled deer, as Tsunami apparently had little discomfort with casual bodily contact - and always managed to have them ‘accidentally’ touch in the most awkward places. One day after dinner, Naruto had been elected to wash dishes, and Tsunami came up behind him and reached for something on the highest shelf of the cabinet. In the process, of course, Tsunami managed to brush her breasts up the length of Naruto’s back - and run her other hand down his chest as she came down, ostensibly for ‘support’. 

The nights were the worst, though. Every night, as the others fell into slumber, Naruto heard Tsunami’s muffled moans shortly after. He tried to ignore it the first two days, but it seemed that the longer he waited, the more passionate her moans grew. He kept thinking she would stop, that she had to be done soon - but she never did. When Naruto finally broke down and snuck back to his watching spot, he saw that she had been teasing herself the whole time. She was always in a new position, but her assets were always prominently displayed towards the door - and she always plunged the dildo into herself shortly after Naruto arrived. Naruto, of course, would masturbate in time with the dildo, and would always come shortly after she did. Then, he would vanish up the stairs before she could see him.

It was due to this repeated series of late-night events that, on the final day of the bridge’s construction, Naruto had managed to sleep in. He awoke with a start, however, as he heard Tsunami screaming - and not in the loud, passionate way that she did when she invaded his dreams. He rushed down the stairs, and found two men with swords, one holding a blade to Tsunami’s neck, while the other threatened Inari as he attempted to rescue his mother.

“We only need one hostage, right?” the one threatening Inari commented.

"Yeah,” replied the other, “go ahead and kill that one, he looks like he’ll just be a nuisance anyway.”

“Don’t!” Tsunami cried, “don’t touch him, or I swear I’ll bite my tongue off!”

The man threatening her just chuckled. “Go to sleep, dearie,” he said, and raised the pommel of his sword to strike her head. Just before he could, an orange streak slammed into him, sending him crashing into the wall, and into blessed unconsciousness. In his place stood an enraged Naruto, glaring at the remaining swordsman.

“What the hell? I thought everyone was supposed to be at the bridge. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to take care of this one.” With that, the remaining swordsman swung his sword diagonally upward, from left hip to right shoulder. Unfortunately for him, Naruto wasn’t there anymore. 

He had just enough time to look surprised before both of Naruto’s feet landed in his face. He went crosseyed as he slumped to the floor, then fell back into a faint. Naruto checked quickly to ensure that Tsunami and Inari were safe, then rushed to the bridge. 

When he arrived, things didn’t look so great. Sakura was with the bridge builder. Well, technically one of the Sakuras was with one of the bridge builders. Sakura had cloned both of them, and each set was standing some distance apart. He assumed Kakashi and Zabuza would be in the big cloud of mist, and it looked like Sasuke was in a large dome made of ice mirrors - most likely the work of the hunter-nin that had saved Zabuza. Sasuke looked like he was having a rough time of it - Naruto could see spots of blood on his dark shirt, and it looked like he was growing needles. Well, that solved Naruto’s what-to-do problem. Time to go save Uchiha. 

Of course, it didn’t occur to him until after rushing in that entering the icy dome of death might be a bad plan. Then he was too busy dodging needles to formulate a plan. Somehow, Sasuke had managed to activate his Sharingan, and was quickly devising a method of hitting the speedy ninja with his fireballs. 

“It seems you have become a threat to me,” a soft voice noted, and Naruto had the strange feeling that he should know the voice. “That is unfortunate, as it means I must eliminate you now.” 

Then senbon were raining down, mostly in the direction of Sasuke. Naruto tried to block them with his body, but he was just too slow to block the majority of them. Naruto saw Sasuke slump to the ground, and stop breathing. Rage filled Naruto as he looked at the seemingly-dead body of Sasuke. This ninja had killed one of his precious people. Murdered them, right in front of him - and Naruto had let it happen. He hadn’t been strong enough, hadn’t been fast enough, hadn’t been smart enough, and now Sasuke was dead. He felt the tendrils of a dark, unfamiliar power forming around him. In his grief, he latched onto that power, and pulled. An explosion of red chakra followed, so strong that it shattered the ice mirrors. The hunter-nin was thrown clear of the mirrors, and Naruto took off after him, beating him with fists, feet, head, knees. The closest body part would lash at the hunter-nin, and he was clearly unprepared for the fury of the strikes. Naruto bounced him along the bridge like a pinball. Finally, as Naruto’s rage and grief reached a crescendo, he punched the hunter-nin’s mask, watching it shatter into pieces.

Only to reveal the face of Haku, the quiet, friendly girl Naruto had met in the forest. His rage abated somewhat, but Sasuke was dead, and mercy wasn’t high on Naruto’s priority list at the moment. 

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, Naruto-san,” Haku whispered, “but I’m glad you will be the one to kill me. I had always been afraid that I would die at the hands of an evil man, but if you are the one...I think I can accept your judgment as just.” Shaking in fury, Naruto raised his fist back, claws extended, and punched Haku squarely in the nose. She flew several feet, and skidded one more, before she stopped. She was still very much alive.

“Why?” Naruto asked, the pain in his voice clear, “why would you talk to me about the value of precious loved ones, and then take mine away? You understood. You know what it means to have someone that’s more important than yourself, so why would you take that away from me?”

Haku’s face was unreadable. “Because my precious person demanded it. He needed me to handle the boy, and you...and he needs me now.” With that, Haku created two ice mirrors, one in front of him and the other next to Zabuza, who was about to be hit with Kakashi’s Lightning Blade. Haku stepped through the first mirror, and appeared next to Zabuza - just in time to get hit by a fireball. Naruto’s eyes opened wide as he looked to Sasuke’s body - and found him sitting up, panting with exertion and pretty clearly out of chakra, but very much alive. 

The blast from the fireball had thrown Kakashi’s technique off course, but Kakashi quickly recovered, and managed to paralyze Zabuza’s arms while Zabuza was distracted by Haku’s appearance, and sudden victimization. During this time, Zabuza had established that Haku was injured, but not seriously so, and in no danger of death. Then, Zabuza heard a familiar voice through the mists.

“I think paying you triple is probably too much. I’m going to have to cut your pay down...to zero.” Gato sneered, and as the mist dissipated he could be seen at the center of an army of brigands. Zabuza growled at the bridge builder. He had suspected a double-cross was coming, but Gato promised to pay well, so he had taken a chance. Now, Zabuza supposed he had to kill Gato, pretty much on principle. 

“Hey, Kakashi,” Zabuza commented, “toss me a kunai. I’ve gotta take care of that guy.” Kakashi was wary, but thus far his experience had led him to believe that, while Zabuza was sneaky in a fight, he didn’t resort to the kind of trickery and double-cross that many ninja did. Shrugging, Kakashi tossed a kunai, aiming it so Zabuza could easily catch it in his teeth. 

“Well, I suppose it is my mission. I guess I’ll cover you while you head for shorty.” Zabuza just grunted, and charged straight into the thick of the mob of men. Kakashi, rolling his eyes, followed quickly. He didn’t engage enemies directly, but instead kept his eyes open for strikes that would hit Zabuza, and quickly redirected or blocked those strikes. Where possible, Kakashi would deliver a counter-strike, but killing the peons could wait until the leader was down. Soon enough, Zabuza had cleared a path to Gato, and promptly rammed the kunai into his throat. Gato fell off the edge of the bridge, into the water below. Zabuza would have followed, but Kakashi’s strong grip encompassed his hand, and pulled him back to the safety of the bridge.

“Now,” Kakashi said, eye-smiling, “I guess it’s time to take out the trash. Who’s first?” The remainder of the mob didn’t last long. 

 

After the battle, Kakashi and company led/carried Zabuza and Haku back to Tsunami’s house, where a hearty lunch was waiting. The two were left to rest and recover. Strangely, Sasuke and Naruto seemed as energetic as usual which, in Sasuke’s case, wasn’t very energetic at all. So Team 7 decided to spend the rest of the day assisting with the completion of the bridge. With the help of shadow clones, the bridge was done by suppertime, and they all headed back for a good meal.

During their absence, Haku had woken up. She seemed subdued, somehow, but everyone more or less ignored it as they ate. As they finished, however, Haku’s need to speak made itself known.

“I’m sorry, Zabuza-sama. I failed to protect you from Kakashi-san’s technique, and also failed to provide you an opening in your fight.” To everyone’s astonishment, Haku seemed genuinely distressed that she had not been impaled by Kakashi’s technique.

They were more astonished by Zabuza’s response.

“I don’t need a dull tool like you. I’m giving you to Konoha, you’re their problem now. The Hokage’s going to use you to start, but if you find someone in the village actually worth serving, give yourself to them instead. I don’t want you handled by an incompetent, after all.” He said this all carelessly, as if Haku was an actual tool, and not a human being with feelings.

“As you wish, Zabuza-sama,” Haku replied. The pain in that response was clear on her face, but her voice remained composed. Haku then stood up, and walked to her room. Kakashi, noticing the tears in her eyes, followed. He stopped near Zabuza, however, and softly commented, “We’ll give her a good life...a safe life, if that’s what she wants. Konoha knows how to protect the kind-hearted.”

Zabuza snorted. What kind of ninja couldn’t tell a girl from a guy?

As Kakashi expected, Haku was sobbing when he entered. “He really is a great man,” he commented, as if to himself. “Most people, when they only have one or two things they really care about, tend to hold onto them desperately. Things like that can be lifelines against despair in times of need, and Zabuza is likely to have experienced more despair than I can even contemplate. That he would give that up, for a chance at a better life for you, speaks volumes as to his character.” Haku sniffled, then wailed.

“He threw me away!” The cry was confusion, despair, self-loathing all rolled into one. “I’m useless. I couldn’t save him, and now he doesn’t want me anymore. What am I going to do? I’m a tool without a master - just a lump of useless materials with no direction or purpose.”

Kakashi paused for a moment. He had been trying to reveal the hidden layers of Zabuza’s actions...but apparently Haku had really bought into all that ‘tool’ talk. So much so, that it seemed like Haku was having a nervous breakdown at not having a ‘master’. Well, Zabuza had given him the information he needed to handle that little problem.

“Your master has given you to Konoha,” he said firmly, “and that means we’re going to use you. I’m your master until we get back to the village. After that, I’m turning you over to the Hokage, and he’ll do what he sees fit with you. Konoha’s not in the habit of letting tools lie idle...we’ll find someone willing to use you.” This sort of speech, referring to Haku as an object instead of a person, caused Kakashi’s heart to ache, but it seemed to work. Haku took a deep breath, and forcibly calmed himself. 

“Yes. Kakashi-sama, what do you wish me to do?” the note of pleading in Haku’s voice cause a fresh surge of pity. He reminded himself that the best way to handle Haku’s issues, for now, was to play along.

“You need to rest. We’re going to be leaving for Konoha soon, and I want you to be presentable for the Hokage. That means I want you healed, rested, and as emotionally stable as you can get. Let me know if you need anything to achieve those goals.” Kakashi fell into his team-leader style of giving order. It seemed to work best for Haku, because he seemed visibly cheered by the direction.

“As you wish, Kakashi-sama.” Then, Haku laid down in his futon, and closed his eyes to rest. Kakashi left the room, sighing as the door closed, and made his way back downstairs.  
“Kakashi-sensei, that Zabuza guy left while you were upstairs. We didn’t know if you wanted us to stop him, so Naruto sent a shadow clone with him. But Zabuza popped it a few minutes ago. Do we need to go after him?”

Kakashi shook his head. “The mission was to protect Tazuna, and Zabuza isn’t a threat anymore. We’ll leave him be for now. Now, I want you three to keep an eye on Haku. She’s hurt, and a little confused right now. If any of you can find a way to cheer her up, and maybe help her start thinking for herself, I would appreciate the effort.” Naruto and Sakura nodded in understanding, while Sasuke just grunted. Well, Kakashi thought to himself, two out of three isn’t too bad.

 

Naruto stared at the now-familiar ceiling once again, pondering the day’s events. Haku, the girl he had met in the clearing, had turned out to be a ninja, and a damned good one at that. They had fought, and Naruto had come really close to killing the fake hunter-nin...but it turned out Sasuke had just been paralyzed, and had woken up in time to shoot the fireball that had saved Haku’s life. Somehow, the two once-enemy ninja had become friends, of a sort, and had followed them back to Tazuna’s house. Then Zabuza had given his weird speech, and Haku acted like the bandaged swordsman had kicked her favorite puppy, despite the fact that Zabuza was essentially telling Haku to live a better life than that of a missing-nin. Well, maybe the young ice-user didn’t see it that way, but Naruto couldn’t really see why someone would not want to live in Konoha, so maybe he wasn’t the best judge.

It was then that Naruto realized that the all-too-familiar sounds hadn’t started, and his teammates were sound asleep. Normally, he would just assume that Tsunami had decided to skip the entertainment and head to sleep - but Tsunami hadn’t done so at all this week. Frowning, Naruto decided to check on her. Just to make sure she was safe, of course.

He made his silent way down the stairs with the ease of practice, and padded softly to Tsunami’s door. As he moved to open it, however, he heard a whimper, and Tsunami say, “Naruto!” in a desperate tone. He opened the door swiftly, scanning the room for enemies - and found Tsunami, naked, in the position he had found her on the first day of their stay.   
She didn’t have the wooden tool this time, but her naked sex was displayed prominently to his view, as were the three fingers Tsunami was working in and out of the wet hole. Naruto’s eyes moved to Tsunami’s face, and Tsunami was staring at him. Her fingers increased their pace, and Naruto found that he couldn’t look away from Tsunami’s eyes. They were lidded with passion, and the flush on her face made her look endearingly vulnerable. Then her eyes opened wide, and she bucked her hips against her hand as she came.

Naruto couldn’t move. He didn’t know how to handle this, standing in Tsunami’s room as she pleasured herself, seemingly without regard to his presence. Tsunami still hadn’t taken her eyes off him - and now she was standing up, still naked. He was terrified, but he couldn’t help staring at her full breasts for a moment. Her nipples were erect, but the colored area around them was large - larger than he expected, from what he had heard from other boys. They were almost the size of his palm, and a dark brown color rather than the pink he had expected. 

Then the danger of his situation reasserted itself, as Tsunami stepped slowly towards him. He could see the glistening of Tsunami’s juices on her thigh, and he was entranced by the way the moonlight played on that wetness, just above a dark patch of hair, as Tsunami’s hips swayed side to side. 

“Did you come to rescue me, Naruto?” Tsunami asked. Her voice, normally so bright and cheerful, was now low and throaty. The difference sent a shiver down Naruto’s spine, and it certainly wasn’t fear. He nodded dumbly, his eyes still roaming over Tsunami’s exposed flesh. “I feel so relieved, knowing there’s such a strong young shinobi, watching over me...every...single...night.” As she said this, she slid her hands around Naruto’s waist, and slipped them into his pajama bottoms. 

“Please, Naruto-kun...allow me to show my gratitude.” At this, Tsunami lowered Naruto’s pajamas slowly down to the ground, her head following her hands down. Naruto stared, but quickly closed his eyes, throwing his head back and moaning as Tsunami wrapped her lips around the head of Naruto’s erection. Tsunami’s tongue danced around the sensitive tip, causing Naruto to buck slightly against her mouth. Tsunami enjoyed the reaction, and took slightly more of him into her mouth. She continued to do this, at a torturously slow pace, until finally Naruto felt something pressing against his sensitive head. Then, Tsunami began to pull away from his cock, at the same torturously slow pace. She played her tongue across his head again when she finally released most of his length - and then repeated the process.

Twice.

By the end of the first repetition, Naruto had unconsciously placed his hands on Tsunami’s head, caressing her dark hair. By the second time Tsunami slowly swallowed his length, he was pressing down on Tsunami’s head unconsciously. Then, just when Naruto expected to hit the barrier that indicated Tsunami’s stopping point, she shifted her position slightly, and pushed the rest of his length down her throat. Naruto groaned, and clutched Tsunami’s hair at that feeling. He was tempted to thrust into her, but didn’t really know how that would affect Tsunami, so instead allowed her to do as she wished.

Tsunami held the full length of his cock for several seconds, then released all of it at once, withdrawing from his cock with a gasp. Then, Tsunami started pumping her mouth down his length, at a much more rapid pace than her earlier teasing. Naruto heard a wet sound, and realized that Tsunami was masturbating while she sucked him off. This was made more obvious to him when she moaned, the vibrations causing an identical sound from Naruto. Tsunami’s moans became more frequent, and just when Naruto thought he couldn’t take any more, Tsunami once again swallowed his full length, and then let out a muffled scream as she came. This, of course, caused some very interesting vibrations on Naruto’s cock, and he found himself pushing hard on Tsunami’s head as he released his load down her throat. As his orgasm passed, and he realized what he had done, he quickly released Tsunami, who immediately pulled back, breathing heavily. A thread of cum had stretched from Tsunami’s mouth, and as she jerked back it broke and fell between her breasts. 

Tsunami walked slowly back to her bed, and Naruto’s eyes followed her the whole way. 

“Naruto-kun, have you ever seen a woman naked?”

“I, ah...aside from you, no...I’ve kinda seen a lot of you, though...I’ve been spying at night.” He said, ashamed. He knew Tsunami was going to scream, and probably hit him, but she deserved the truth. Instead, to his astonishment, she giggled.

“I know, silly. I saw you there the first night, but you were too busy with...other things to notice. Since then, I’ve been putting on a bit of a show for you. But I don’t think you can see very well from way over there...why don’t you come and get a closer look?” With this, she lay face-up on the bed, and spread her legs, displaying her glistening sex for Naruto’s examination.

Naruto couldn’t really understand what was going on. Tsunami had known about his spying? It did seem kind of weird, now that he thought about it, that Tsunami had decided to reposition herself every night. He had also always suspected that the others in the group didn’t get Tsunami’s ‘accidental’ contacts, but had been too busy avoiding looking at the young mother to say for sure. Now she was actually suggesting he sit and examine her privates? He had to admit he had always been curious about how girls were built down there, but he had never dreamed someone would just present herself to satisfy his curiosity. 

So he slid between Tsunami’s spread legs to see what he had been missing. It was interesting. The first thing to draw his eye were two wrinkled lips that ran the length of her slit. They stuck out slightly from the smooth curve of her crotch, which Naruto found odd - he had always assumed it was just a smooth mound, with a hole, more or less, in the middle. He found the reality more intriguing. He brushed one finger along the engorged lips, and was rewarded with a breathy sigh from Tsunami. Encouraged that his touches wouldn’t cause her discomfort, he ran one finger up and down the wet slit several more times. He was intrigued to note that fluid was slowly leaking from her crack - apparently that’s why she was so wet down there. 

“You can spread me open, Naruto-kun,” Tsunami said softly, and Naruto needed no further encouragement. Tsunami let out a soft humming noise as he spread her lips open, and began examining what he found. Her lips, which Naruto had been so fascinated by, seemed to join at the top of her valley into a small nub of flesh. The pink skin gradually curved before leading into Tsunami’s depths. His view of those depths was somewhat obscured, however, by more of the fluid.

“You’re so wet, Tsunami-chan,” Naruto muttered, and to his surprise, he saw her pussy move at his words - not in a particular direction, but more of a vague undulation. It was accompanied by a pleasant sound from Tsunami, so Naruto assumed it meant she had liked it.

“Don’t say such embarrassing things, Naruto-kun,” Tsunami chided, but her admonition lacked force. Naruto smirked.

“But Tsuna-chan, you’re just leaking so much..it’s hard to get a good view.” Her pussy moved again at that. “Here,” Naruto said, acting on instinct, “let me clean it up.” With that, he licked the base of her pussy, gathering as much of the liquid as possible on his tongue. It didn’t have a very strong taste, but Nartuo found that he liked it. He continued up the valley of her sex, and to his surprise Tsunami bucked against his mouth as his tongue reached the strange nub he had noticed earlier. Naruto noticed that Tsunami had begun breathing hard.

“Did you like that, Tsuna-chan? Does the idea of me drinking from your pussy turn you on?”

“No!” Tsunami exclaimed, but the passion in her voice belied her words.

“Oh, there you go again. I just get it cleaned up for a good view, and you’ve already got your juices in my way again.” With that, Naruto repeated the process, this time dragging his tongue more slowly across the small nub of Tsunami’s clitoris. He was rewarded by more moans, and Tsunami arching her back, something Naruto found incredibly erotic. Encouraged, Naruto spent more time playing with the small nub, circling his tongue around it, then flicking across it in several directions. 

He knew he was doing it right when Tsunami’s hand tangled into his hair, encouraging him to continue with a light pressure. He pressed his mouth harder onto the area, then realized that his position left Tsunami’s opening clear. With a mental shrug, Naruto experimentally inserted a finger into the opening. It wasn’t exactly what he had expected, but it felt good. The opening hugged his finger, but the light pressure gave way to a warm, gentle sensation. He moved his finger around, and found that Tsunami’s walls gave way slightly to his finger. He explored her insides for a while, licking her all the while. Then, his finger found a lump on the upper portion of her opening, and Tsunami moaned. “Oh, right there,” she gasped. Naruto closed his eyes, and focused on massaging the two sensitive areas he had found. 

He felt Tsunami arching her back again, and turned slightly to see that she had grabbed her nipples in either hand, and rolling one between her fingers. The other had pinched her nipple, and pulled it strongly, re-shaping her breast into a nearly conical shape. His hips moved at that, and he realized abruptly that he had been grinding his erection into the bed as he pleasured Tsunami. He closed his eyes again, and focused on his work as Tsunami began bucking more violently, and her moans took on a pleading tone. Several minutes later, Tsunami contorted so that only her shoulders and feet were touching the bed, pressing her pussy hard against Naruto’s mouth. Her eyes opened wide and lost focus as her mouth shaped a silent scream. Then, all at once, her muscles relaxed and she dropped back down to the bed, panting. 

“That...was amazing,” she panted between breaths, “are you sure you’ve never done that before? Oh, that’s going to keep me satisfied for weeks.” Well, she thought to herself, more likely days, but a little ego-stroking never hurt.

“But Tsuna-chan,” Naruto said, donning his best wide-eyed innocent voice, “You’ve come three times, and I’ve only come once. That doesn’t seem like very good hospitality to me.” Naruto then levered himself onto his knees, displaying his erection.

Thank god for the stamina of youth, Tsunami thought with a grin. “Well, I certainly can’t be slacking on the hospitality now, can I?” She rolled herself onto her stomach, then tucked her knees under her. She figured the more familiar position would make it easier for Naruto...and it would let her feel his full length. 

Naruto was nervous as he stared at Tsunami’s provocatively displayed bottom, but she seemed confident in her decision to accept him, so he gently placed the tip of his penis against her opening, spreading her lips slightly to ensure he was aiming at the right place. Then, he slowly pushed himself into her, and groaned at the feeling. It was so warm and soft...and it wrapped around him in a way that felt better than he had ever experienced. He pushed into her effortlessly, thanks to the amount of lubricant Tsunami had generated in their previous activities. He pushed into her as far as he could go, and then stopped there, adjusting to the feeling of burying himself in her. Tsunami, however, was apparently a little impatient, as she pulled herself away from him, and pushed back against him, fucking his cock as it remained stationary.

Naruto groaned, and quickly took up the pace Tsunami set, thrusting into her as she pushed against him. He grabbed onto her hips, using them to steady his thrusts, which were somewhat erratic when combined with Tsunami’s efforts. More confident now, Naruto began thrusting harder, the sound of their hips slapping together filling the air. Tsunami began making whimpering noises, that increased in pitch as Naruto pounded into her. Several moments later, Naruto felt Tsunami’s pussy tighten around him, and he got to watch her arch her back from a different perspective as she came once again. Naruto, encouraged, picked up the pace of his thrusts once again, and Tsunami felt the need to brace herself by putting her hands against the wall. Naruto could see the edges of her breasts bounce as he slammed into her, and Naruto began pulling Tsunami’s hips into him as he thrust. The first time he felt a hard spot on the tip of his dick, he was afraid he had hurt Tsunami, but her surprised gasp as an orgasm ripped through her reassured him. After that, he tried to figure out where that spot was, and soon was hitting it every third or fourth stroke

“Oh fuck,” Tsunami chanted, “ohfuckohfuckohfuckyes!” This last came out as a shout, as another push into that hard spot triggered another orgasm. Naruto felt his own build, however, as the combination of Tsunami’s repeated squeezing of the base of his cock, and her pleasured moans began making an impact. Soon, he was driving into her mechanically, not in consideration of Tsunami’s pleasure but in pursuit of his own. 

As his climax approached, he maintained the presence of mind to pull out of Tsunami, and shot his load across Tsunami’s sweat-slicked, shuddering back. Tsunami collapsed, her legs shooting out from under her as her arms dropped and she splayed across the bed. Naruto, breathing heavily with his exertion, thought she looked stunning splayed across the bed, decorated in his cum.

Then he grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. I, uh, kinda got some in your hair.”

“That’s okay,” Tsunami breathed, eyes closed, “I’ll take care of it later. I’m just...gonna lay here for a little while.”

Naruto stroked her thigh gently, looking uncharacteristically gentle. “Thank you, Tsunami. I think, as first times go, I couldn’t have asked for anyone better.” 

“I’m glad I was your first,” Tsunami said very softly. Naruto was about to respond, but realized that Tsunami had suddenly taken on the deep breathing of a person who was soundly asleep. Congratulating himself on a job well done, Naruto cleaned up what he could of their mess with some nearby tissues before making his way back to his own bed, and followed in Tsunami’s footsteps.


	4. Every Dog has his Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Haku gets a job, and Kiba narrowly escapes death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I'm not sure how much more I'm actually going to write of this story, but I've got a fair amount already laid out in files on my hard drive. I figured I might as well post them since they exist. I'll post one a week until I'm out. If I forget about it again, I'll probably just mass-post everything I've got.
> 
> Anyways, a little bit of foot fetish in this one.

The next day, the five ninja woke early to begin their travels to Konoha. Sakura was a little bit sad that their first real mission was over, but the sadness was easily overwhelmed by the relief at no longer having the threat of an angry Swordsman of the Mist breathing down their collective necks. She was also a little bit homesick, if she had to be honest with herself, but she certainly wouldn’t be mentioning that to anyone. 

As requested by Kakashi, Sakura made sure to keep an eye on the newcomer of the group. Sasuke wasn’t going to try to help the young girl, and Sakura was honestly frightened of what Naruto might try in the name of ‘helping’. Luckily, the normally energetic blonde seemed a little tired this morning, so he probably wouldn’t do anything too crazy. 

Breakfast that day was somewhat quieter than the norm, as Naruto had seemed too tired for bickering with Sasuke, and Haku’s obvious depression dampened any other conversations that Kakashi or Sakura might have started. Tsunami had seemed oddly cheerful, but Sakura supposed that having the bridge complete would make a lot of people cheerful today. 

Now they were hopping their way to Konoha, and as they did so Sakura took the time to examine Haku in closer detail. The girl seemed nearly oblivious to her surroundings. She stared straight ahead as they traveled, and to Sakura it seemed that Haku’s eyes didn’t even move to track the next branch - she just jumped, and happened to land in the right place. She surreptitiously made her way nearer to Haku, and whispered softly, “Hey...are you alright?”

“I am unharmed,” Haku replied softly, but the sense of warmth that Sakura had heard on other occasions was absent from her voice. Sakura shook her head.

“No, I mean...how are you handling things? You seemed pretty upset when Zabuza told you to come with us...” Sakura trailed off, not really knowing how to finish.

Haku was silent for a long time. Finally, she said, “Do you have anyone you care about? Someone you depend on for everything?” Sasuke immediately jumped to the front of Sakura’s mind, but she didn’t really depend on him for much.

“My parents, I guess. They’re always there when I need them.” Sakura finally said.

“How would you feel if you came back from a failed mission, bruised and bloody, and your parents told you that they didn’t want you around anymore...that you weren’t good enough, so you should just leave?” Haku asked, and a hint of the despair she was feeling was evident in the bitterness of her voice.

“I would feel like a failure,” Sakura said softly, “but I don’t think that’s really what happened. Zabuza said some nasty things, but he doesn’t really strike me as the kind to embrace his emotions. I think he was actually trying to protect you.”

“I’m not supposed to need protection!” Haku said, suddenly fierce, “I’m Zabuza’s weapon! What sort of weapon protects itself over its owner? By ‘protecting’ me, he’s said that I’m useless as a weapon...and that’s all I’ve ever been.”

Sakura shook her head. “You see yourself as a weapon, but have you ever considered how Zabuza might consider you? Sure, he talks tough and he’s a stone-cold killer, but he’s got emotions, even if he likes to pretend he doesn’t. He always called you a tool, but he never made you kill - never pushed you to become emotionless like he likes to pretend he is. Why would Zabuza hold a weapon, but never sharpen it enough to be deadly to his enemies?”

“Zabuza enjoys killing too much for me to be ‘stealing his fun’ all the time,” Haku murmured, “Time and time again, as we were traveling, he would say, ‘Useless tools should be thrown away’. I guess he finally got tired of me being useless.”

“Then why aren’t you dead?” Sakura asked, and Haku’s head whipped towards her at this, making eye contact for the first time. “If you’re a tool, and Zabuza thinks you’re useless, why would he send you to Konoha, with all the knowledge you have about him, his habits and hiding places, his fighting styles and his plans. If he’s as cold-hearted as you think he is, and he doesn’t care about you unless you’re of use to him...well, if it were me, I would’ve broken a tool that could be used against me, instead of turning it over to my potential enemies.”

Haku’s eyes were troubled as they resumed their forward focus. Sakura knew the conversation was over, and so she moved back to her flanking position, leaving Haku alone with her thoughts.

 

By the time they reached Konoha, Haku was well and truly ensnared in a maze of logic. He knew that Zabuza only thought he was a tool...but the pink-haired kunoichi had been correct. If Zabuza really thought Haku was useless enough to throw away, Zabuza should have killed him to prevent his secrets from being known. Even if Zabuza trusted Haku not to talk to the Konoha interrogators - and Zabuza was not fond of such assumptions - Zabuza knew that Konoha had jutsu to pull knowledge out of a person’s mind without permission.

It didn’t make any sense, and Haku’s mind kept bouncing between two irreducible facts - Zabuza didn’t care about anyone, and Haku was alive. He was so absorbed in his mental struggles, he barely registered their arrival, travel to the Hokage’s office, and Hakate’s description of the events of the Wave mission. 

“Haku, do you wish to become a shinobi of Konoha?” This from the Hokage, a wrinkled old man with a pipe.

“I am at Konoha’s disposal. If Hokage-sama wishes me to become a shinobi, I shall do so.” Haku replied emotionlessly.

The Hokage looked at Haku oddly, then looked to Kakashi for some sort of explanation.

“Haku, explain your skills and limitations. Be as complete as possible.” This was Kakashi, and Haku obeyed without question.

“I am exceptionally fast. My taijutsu is above average, I have the ability to form one-handed seals, and specialize in my kekkei genkai, the Ice Release. My favored weapon is senbon, and I have studied medical knowledge extensively. I have a perfect understanding of human anatomy, and am an accomplished apothecary. I have never killed an opponent, and consider it my one failing as a true shinobi. Using Ice Release, I can move near-instantaneously between two points in my line of sight by using ice mirrors.” Haku couldn’t think of anything else, so stopped there. Anything he had missed, he could add later.

The Hokage considered all this, and the implications of some of Haku’s word choices. Finally, he arrived at a decision. “Haku, you will be assigned as an assistant to Konoha’s poison master. You will be given no shinobi duties, but will be expected to maintain your skills and, if necessary, defend Konoha against attackers. You may report to Mitarashi Anko tomorrow at nine A.M. Kakashi will show you the way there, and then to your new living quarters. As a trained shinobi new to our village, you will be housed with one of our experienced shinobi. This shinobi will observe you for any signs of infiltration or spying, but I suggest you also consider her a source of advice in times of need. You are all dismissed.”

Haku silently followed Kakashi to the area that he would be working starting tomorrow. It was a small two-story building that Haku would have identified as someone’s home, had he not been aware of its actual use. Kakashi knocked on the door, but the poison master must have been away, or in the middle of a sensitive process, because there was no answer. Shrugging, Kakashi continue on to where Haku would be staying.

Haku wasn’t thrilled to be staying with a stranger who was obligated to watch him closely for signs of betrayal, but was resigned to his fate. He expected a large, imposing ninja, to better goad him into ‘playing nice’, so when an attractive young woman with long, purple hair answered the door, Haku was appropriately surprised.

“Haku, I’d like you to meet Uzuki Yuugao. Yuuago, this is Haku, your new roommate.”

 

The next morning, Haku stood once more in front of the two-story building that was to be his new workplace. Yuugao Uzuki had given him the address that morning, in case he had forgotten where it was. He hadn’t, but Uzuki seemed like the kind of person who paid attention to details like that. She was also polite and a bit distant, which Haku appreciated - the last thing he needed was one more person trying to reach out to him. He just hoped his new boss was equally reserved.

Taking a deep breath, Haku knocked on the door. Several moments later, it was opened by a woman with a messy purple ponytail, a long trenchcoat, and a mesh shirt over a short brown skirt. Haku bowed to the woman, before introducing himself.

“I am Haku, new resident of Konoha. I have been assigned by the Hokage to work for Mitarashi Anko, poison specialist. Do you know where I can find her?”

Anko leered at her visitor, and said, “Well, aren’t you the cutest little thing? Come on in, Haku-chan...I’m Anko. Welcome to my little hideout.”

Haku bowed once more, and entered the small house. He couldn’t help but feel a chill as the door shut behind him, and he heard the sound of a deadbolt sliding home. Turning, he saw Anko leaning against the door. Her eyes were shining oddly, and she was grinning in a way that made Haku slightly uncomfortable.

“So, Haku-chan, tell me about yourself.” Anko’s voice had dropped an octave, and as she approached Haku, he noted she was exaggerating the sway of her hips. She moved uncomfortably close to him, so that her chest was brushing up against his, and said, “I’d love to hear all about my new...assistant.”

“I was born in Kiri during the blood purges. I am a holder of the hyoton bloodline, but in an attempt to save my life, my mother hid my abilities from my father. Eventually he found out and killed my mother. When he came after me, I used my bloodline to instead kill him and his friends. I then became an urchin, until...” here Haku paused to swallow several times, attempting to clear the lump in his throat, “the missing-nin Momochi Zabuza took me in and raised me to be used as a weapon in his ambition.  
I followed him for nearly a decade, learning as much as I could about medical jutsu, herbs, poisons, and anatomy. Several weeks ago, Zabuza-sama took a job for Gato to eliminate a bridge builder. In the process, I met with Konoha’s team. We fought on a bridge, and I failed to protect Zabuza-sama from what would have been a fatal injury, had Kakashi not become distracted. We then learned that Gato planned to double-cross us, and Zabuza-sama eliminated Gato and his group of hired thugs. After that, Zabuza-sama deemed me an unfit tool, and ordered me to Konoha.”

Haku could feel the tears forming in his eyes as he said this last, but fought to keep his voice steady. He blinked, and felt the tears in his eyes spill over, rolling down his cheeks.  
Anko seemed to ignore this, however. “Well, no need to worry about that from me. I love using my tools to their...fullest capacity. Now...how about I show you all my nooks and crannies, so you know just how to keep me satisfied.” Haku nodded, ignoring Anko’s suggestive wording. Anko pouted a bit, but showed him around the small building, and informed him of his duties before putting him to work.

 

Kiba was excited about today’s training with Tenten. Today, Tenten was going to spar with him using his new weapons - she had decided that he was proficient enough that he wasn’t going to accidentally lop off any of his own body parts, and he had enough control to avoid doing so to Tenten if the blades were blunted. He was so excited, in fact, that he was a full twenty minutes early to their training ground. When he arrived, however, he heard the sounds of exertion in the training ground. He frowned, and moved to observe the usurper to ‘his’ territory.

He relaxed when he saw that it was Tenten, but remained hidden. Kiba was curious about her training, since their meetings thus far had focused on his practice and abilities. Tenten was on one side of the large wooden pole in the center of the clearing, and was going through an extremely complicated kata with two kama. At least, it looked complicated to Kiba. Tenten had an intense look of concentration on her face, and Kiba couldn’t really see her arms very well, they moved so quickly. The staccato flash of sunlight on metal caught Kiba’s eye for a moment, but then he focused on Tenten’s footwork. He always thought Tenten would be a solid fighter, keeping firm footing and striking hard, but Tenten seemed to glide more than step when she moved, and she struck with grace and speed.

Then Tenten threw her two weapons at two different trees across the clearing, and in the same movement released a sword from one of her sealing scrolls, continuing the kata without pause. It wasn’t really the same kata, though...where before Tenten had been speed and precision, now she was fluid. The sword snaked out, tracing graceful lines in the afterimages of the sun reflecting off the blade. Each strike was a preparation for the next, and Kiba wasn’t sure he would’ve actually noticed Tenten throwing the blade into the air, if it weren’t for the sound of multiple objects hitting the center stump. His eyes moved to the stump, seeing an outline of a person - and then Tenten kicked the longsword out of the air, and it flew straight at Kiba. He yelped, diving into the bushes, as the sword buried itself into the tree next to his head. Panting heavily in fear, he stared at the blade, which was still humming slightly as it vibrated from the impact.

“Kiba!” Tenten exclaimed, surprised, “I’m sorry, are you okay? I didn’t realize you were there.”

“That’s okay, I’m fine...you just scared me with that one. It was impressive, though...you even have perfect aim when kicking weapons out of the air?” 

“Ehehe...” Tenten giggled nervously, “I don’t really do that in combat - there’s usually too much going on, and it takes a lot of focus. Mostly, I do it because I can.” 

“Well it’s super cool...and a little bit scary.” Kiba relaxed, and looked to the post where Tenten had thrown various sharp objects. Noticing something, he frowned. “Um...Tenten? Why does your shuriken outline guy have pointy ears?” Luckily for Tenten, he hadn’t noticed the tail-outline.

Tenten blushed heavily, and rushed over to remove her shuriken and kunai from the post. “S-so much for perfect accuracy, huh?” She really hoped he didn’t realize that she had had...other things on her mind while exercising. Hoping to prevent further questioning, she said, “So, ready to try out your new moves?”

“Totally!” Kiba exclaimed, “Let’s do this! I want to see just how much damage these babies can cause.” With this, he donned his new blades, and Tenten retrieved the remainder of her stray weaponry, leaving two kunai out for her own use in their sparring. 

They sparred for a long time, and Kiba enjoyed every second of it. Tenten was fast, devious, and seemed to change tactics within the blink of an eye. The third time Kiba caught Tenten using reflected light from her weapons to distract his vision, he realized he needed to focus more. This caused a bit of a problem for him, since there were really only two really good places to watch an opponent, and those were the eyes and the chest. The chest, of course, had obvious implications, so Kiba decided on the eyes. Unfortunately, every time he met Tenten’s eyes, his focus suffered even more. The intensity that Tenten had in those chocolate brown orbs flustered Kiba for some reason, and he very nearly took some serious hits because he was so distracted.

“What are you doing? Focus! It’s no fun if you’re not trying.” Tenten chided, annoyed that Kiba seemed to be daydreaming during their spar. Kiba shook his head, and decided to split the difference. He stared at Tenten’s chin, which gave him a decent range of vision on her chest and shoulders, where telltale muscle twitches would occur, and her eyes, which indicated her focus. Plus, he wouldn’t be accused of staring at her breasts...he hoped.

They fought for half-hour periods, after which they would take a break and Tenten would give him tips on how to better utilize his weaponry. He didn’t really have the knack of using the extended blades to disarm yet, but he kept practicing. They broke for lunch around noon, and continued on through the day. They didn’t notice the dark clouds gathering. 

As the sky darkened, Kiba decided to try some of his clan techniques with the new weaponry. He yelled, “Passing Fang!” and leapt into the air, spinning into the Inuzuka’s trademark drill shape. His drill-form darted at Tenten, who jumped aside. Kiba then turned, scraping the cliff wall as he did so, and headed back toward Tenten. She evaded once more, but Kiba’s spinning body blocked her view of the rocks falling from the cliff, and she was struck on the head by a falling rock.

When Kiba stopped his spin, he turned to find Tenten unconscious on the ground. Panicking, he rushed over to see what happened. “Ohcrapohcrapohcrap,” he chanted, looking over Tenten’s body for signs of damage. She had a lump on her head, but didn’t seem otherwise injured. As he was trying to decide if it would be safe to move her, she groaned, and her eyes fluttered open.

“What happened?” she said, disoriented.

“I think you got hit by a falling rock as you dodged away from my Passing Fang,” Kiba said. As Tenten sat up, he quickly checked her back for other injuries, but saw no other wounds. Tenten shook her head, attempting to clear it. This proved to be a bad idea, however, as it made her dizzy and caused her to fall back against Kiba. This only served to double Kiba’s concern.

“We need to get you to a hospital.” Kiba said anxiously.

“Oh, relax. I’ve taken hits harder than this from Lee dozens of times. We’re probably done for the day, but an hour or so at home and I’ll be as good as new.” Tenten looked slightly irritated by Kiba’s concern, but she was still a little too dizzy to yell at him properly. She moved to stand up, and hissed in pain as her right foot pressed against the ground. “Looks like I twisted my ankle too. What a pain.”

“Here, let me help,” Kiba said, pulling Tenten’s right arm across his shoulders. Tenten stood on her left leg, and took a shaky step on her right, leaning against Kiba. She wobbled a bit, and Kiba wrapped his free hand around her waist. Then Tenten felt the first drops of rain, and groaned.

“Wonderful...just what I need, some rain to top off the day. Hold on quick, I’ve got an umbrella sealed away here somewhere.” She fiddled around with some scrolls for a moment, then unsealed an umbrella, which she held above both of them in her free hand. Seconds later, the skies opened up in a violent downpour. Together, they squelched their way through the soaked, muddy ground to Tenten’s house.

When they finally arrived, Tenten tossed the umbrella carelessly into a corner, and collapsed onto her couch. “Thanks for the help Kiba...sorry today went south so quickly. I’ll see you next week, and hopefully we can work on those clan techniques.”

“Hey, a deal’s a deal, remember? Footrubs for training. You did your part, so now it’s time for my part.” Kiba said this cheerfully. He still felt a little bad for hurting Tenten, but she sounded like she could handle it, so he was trying not to beat himself up too much.

Tenten made a face. “Aside from the injury, my feet are all muddy. I’m not going to make you wait for me to take a shower, and I don’t think you want to rub dirty feet.” 

“Well,” Kiba smiled, “I’ll just have to clean them then, won’t I? Point me to a bowl and a washcloth.” 

“The bowls are in the kitchen, the second cupboard on your left from the fridge, on the bottom. Washcloths are just above the sink, on the right side.” Tenten was tempted to protest again, but Kiba seemed pretty determined, and she wasn’t really sure she cared enough to argue.

Kiba gathered the washcloth and bowl, and filled the bowl with hot water. Then, he made his way over to Tenten, and very carefully removed her shoes and socks. He made sure not to bend her twisted ankle as he did so, so the process took slightly longer than normal. He then wet the washcloth, and began wiping the dirt from her feet carefully. He started with the right, since that was going to be the more difficult foot due to the injury. As he washed it, he looked carefully for signs of swelling, but saw none. He moved on to the left foot, and found himself examining it just as closely as he wiped the dirt away. Tenten had surprisingly small feet. He would call them delicate, but he suspected Tenten wouldn’t appreciate the adjective. They were calloused from work, but still supple as Kiba knew from experience. Her toes were tipped with perfectly shaped crescent nails.

Kiba didn’t notice Tenten staring at him as he examined her feet. He didn’t notice the slight flush on her face as he washed her feet carefully. He didn’t see her reaction to his intense focus, or his strangely tender face as he washed the space between her toes. He did, however, abruptly realize he was aroused as he finished washing her feet. Seconds later, he realized that she was too. 

He attempted to show no reaction, but couldn’t help the blush that rose to his face. Do I really like her feet that much? he thought to himself. Tenten, of course, was thinking something similar, but in a slightly less sex-focused way. Still, Kiba had a payment to deliver, so he carefully took up Tenten’s right foot, and gently began rubbing. Tenten started moaning almost immediately, which really didn’t help Kiba’s situation. 

It wasn’t Kiba’s best work in the footrub department, but his confusion at Tenten’s reactions, and his own, caused him to rush somewhat. Tenten groaned in disappointment when Kiba’s fingers left her feet, but Kiba was slightly concerned about what might happen if he kept going - he had been resisting the strangest urge to lick her toes. He wasn’t really sure where it came from, but he was almost positive that following through would get him a no-expense paid trip to the Konoha E.R. So he left, slightly hurriedly, and once again missed the look on Tenten’s face. It was partly calculating, partly confused, and not a little disappointed. Sighing, she hobbled her way to the bathroom for a shower.

 

Tenten was standing in what she now considered ‘their’ training ground, as Kiba watched her expectantly. Why was she there? Oh yes, she had agreed to train Kiba, and this was their first meeting.

“Okay,” Tenten began, taking on a lecturing tone, “the first rule of training is that you are to address me as ‘Mistress’ at all times.” 

Kiba nodded his head submissively. “Yes, Mistress.”

“Good. Now, show me your clan’s techniques.”

Kiba performed several handseals, then said, “Imitation Beast Ninja Art: Four Legs Technique!” and transformed. Tenten watched as his muscles bulged, his eyes acquired a vertically slit pupil, and his hands and feet grew wicked-looking claws. Then, he sprouted fine red fur on the backs of his hands and on his face. It stopped near the center of his face, leaving a broad T of bald skin around his eyes, nose and mouth. Finally, he sprouted pointed ears on the top of his head, and a tail.

“Hmm,” Tenten said thoughtfully, “good. Now show me how far the fur spreads.”

Kiba’s face turned as red as his fur, but finally said, “Yes, mistress,” and then he grabbed the collar of his jacket with both hands, and pulled it over his head. The rest of his clothes followed, and he was standing in front of Tenten naked, his hands covering his crotch.

Kiba’s fur covered most of his body, but for some reason it thinned out near the midline of his body. A thin strip of tanned flesh was visible extending from his chin, past his chest, and down to his muscled stomach. Tenten’s visual trace of that line was interrupted at that point by Kiba’s hands. Annoyed, Tenten snapped the whip she had somehow always held at Kiba’s left hand, causing him to yelp and pull his hands away.

“When I say I want to see how far the fur spreads, I mean everywhere. Do you understand?” Tenten glared at the boy, who gulped and nodded his head. “What was that? I didn’t hear you.”

“Yes, mistress,” Kiba whispered. Nodding in satisfaction, Tenten continued her examination. Kiba’s manhood was at full attention, but seemed untouched by the red hair that covered most of his body. His scrotum, however, was covered in the fine red fur. Tenten slowly walked around Kiba, taking in every aspect of his new appearance. Tenten noted with some amusement that Kiba’s ears tracked her movements carefully.

As she approached Kiba’s back, Tenten whispered, “I wonder how your tail handles,” and noted with delight that Kiba shivered at the concept. Gently, Tenten wrapped her hand around the base of Kiba’s tail, and slowly pulled towards the tail’s tip. Kiba groaned at the feeling, and as Tenten’s hand reached the end of his tail, he shivered. One leg spasmed, throwing mud onto Tenten’s bare feet. She frowned at that.

“Now look what you’ve done, you’ve gotten my feet all messy,” she said, as she sat in a nearby chair that seemed to vaguely resemble a throne, “now come over here and clean it up, dog.” Kiba turned at this, and was about to step forward when Tenten’s whip snaked out again, lashing his left thigh.

“No, bad dog. Dogs walk on all fours, and you always respond to my commands with, ‘yes, mistress’. I won’t warn you again.” 

“Yes, mistress,” Kiba said, and dropped to all fours to crawl towards Tenten. When he arrived, however, he was confused as to exactly how he was supposed to clean her feet - his hands were now also covered with mud.

“Well? Get started already. I don’t have all day, you know.” Tenten said, feigning impatience.

“Mistress...I don’t know how to clean your feet.” Kiba said. Tenten sighed at the ‘ignorance’ that her charge was displaying.

“With your tongue, obviously,” Tenten said. Nodding in understanding, Kiba replied with another, ‘yes, mistress’ before leaning down and licking the sole of Tenten’s right food. Tenten shivered at the sensation, enjoying the feel of Kiba’s tongue on her foot. Kiba licked the sole of her foot clean, then cleaned the top of her foot before attending to her toes.

Tenten moaned when she felt Kiba’s mouth wrap around her pinky toe. He sucked gently on it, and licked the crevasse between her two toes before moving on to the next toe. He repeated the process, lingering somewhat more as he gently toyed with the delicate digit. As he slowly teased each toe, Tenten found that she was naked, and was rubbing her pussy with one hand, while the other gently teased her nipple. 

As Kiba pulled her fourth toe gently into her mouth, she inserted two fingers into herself, and began masturbating quickly. The feel of Kiba’s mouth around her toe, and his tongue dancing in the sensitive places on her foot pulled another moan from her. As he released the digit, Tenten increased her pace in anticipation of Kiba’s ministrations on her big toe. 

Kiba kissed it first, and Tenten was struck with the urge to shove the digit into his mouth, to force him to clean it...so she did. Kiba’s eyes widened somewhat, and the sight sent a thrill of pleasure through her. She could feel her orgasm building, and began rhythmically pushing her toe into Kiba’s mouth as she fingered herself. After becoming adjusted, Kiba began playing his tongue across the digit as it entered his mouth. Tenten was now rubbing herself furiously, and her muscles clenched. She pushed her toe into Kiba’s mouth once more, demanding the stimulus to complete her climax...

And then she woke up. Her hand was at her crotch, and her eyes were closed, but she was suddenly aware that it had all been a dream. Whimpering, she replayed the last moments of the scene in her mind. Kiba’s mouth on her toe, rhythmically sucking...pushing her foot into his mouth, his wide eyes as she forced him to please her...and she shuddered as an orgasm washed over her. Only after the orgasm had passed, and the lust had left her mind, did she think about the dream she had just had, and the implications it might have for the relationship between herself and her pupil.


	5. In which much is said, but few done.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No warnings for this one.

Shikamaru was laying in a clearing in the forest, engaging in his favorite pastime - cloudgazing. He was not alarmed when he heard movement in the forest - he was close enough to town that an enemy attack was extremely unlikely. He looked up, and saw a young girl in a yukata with what looked like a basket of flowers. She had long, dark hair, brown eyes, and a heart-shaped face.

“Excuse me,” the young woman said, “I didn’t realize anyone would be here. Will it bother you if I pick some herbs?” As she spoke, her basket tilted. Shikamaru saw no herbs, but did recognize several varieties of highly poisonous plants. His interest piqued, Shikamaru chose to engage in conversation, rather than wave a vague permission as he normally would.

“You’re welcome to try, but I haven’t ever seen anything edible in this clearing.”

This left Haku in somewhat of a predicament, as he had been instructed by Anko to gather an impressive variety of plants, and this clearing had the only supply of some he had yet to gather. His inclination towards secrecy had to give way to the truth in this instance, he supposed.

“To tell you the truth, I’m after that hellebore over there. I’m the poison master’s new apprentice.”

“Oh? I haven’t seen you around. I’m Shikamaru.” His curiosity satisfied, Shikamaru’s gaze returned to the clouds.

“I’m Haku. I just moved here from the Land of Waves.” Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at that - Naruto had recently returned from the land of waves. He made no further comment, however, as Haku proceeded to gather hellebore. 

Close to an hour later, Haku had finished gathering herbs, and turned once again to the boy laying in the center of the clearing. He seemed extremely comfortable laying there on the grass, and Haku decided that he had some free time available - after all, his task was somewhat ambiguous as to time requirements. “Do you mind if I join you, Shikamaru?” He asked politely.

Shikamaru grumbled internally, knowing how troublesome girls tended to be when unoccupied. He responded with a lazy, “sure”, however, deciding it would be more trouble to refuse. To his surprise, Haku lay down several yards from him, and seemed content with silently watching the clouds go by.

This held for half an hour, when Haku stood up. “Thank you for sharing your clearing with me, Shikamaru,” he said, gathering his basket of poisonous plants.

“Anytime, Haku,” Shikamaru replied, his eyes never leaving the clouds. To his own surprise, he meant it - Haku had been pleasant company, and seemed to know how to enjoy silence in a way that Shikamaru had not observed in anyone else he had met except Chouji.

 

Ino picked at her food as she waited for Chouji to finish demolishing yet another plate of barbecue. Asuma had called a break early in their training today, and he was looking unusually pensive – for him, which meant he wasn't staring into space idly, he was instead staring into space with a preoccupied expression. As Chouji put four more slabs of meat on the grill, Ino decided she didn't care if he was done, and spoke up.

“So what is this all about, sensei? You've seemed weird all day, so you must have something big to tell us.” 

Asuma looked at Ino, blinking for a moment as he attempted to pull himself away from his own thoughts. Gradually, he returned to earth, and replied to Ino's question.

“Right, about that. It's just that the chunin exams are coming up, and you guys are going to be entering the competition.” Ino's jaw dropped, and Shikamaru sighed. Chouji choked on his most recent conquest, turning purple before forcing the morsel down his throat with a supreme effort of will. 

“Chunin exams?” Ino commented over Chouji's coughing fit, idly wiping stray bits of food off herself, “Do you really think we're ready for that? We've only been genin for a few months.”

Asuma didn't say anything for a moment, instead staring up at the ceiling. “I don't know if you're ready to be chunin yet, but you're strong enough now that you probably won't die in the exam. The first part of the exam is in two weeks, at the Academy. Don't be late.”

Ino stared at the space that Asuma had vanished from, her eye twitching. Shikamaru muttered, “Troublesome,” and stared out the window disinterestedly, and Chouji shrugged. Sure, they had suddenly been confronted with the specter of a competition that could kill them, but that was no excuse for letting good food go to waste.

As Team 9 approached the exam site, its less-exuberant members found themselves subject to an unusual amount of enthusiasm from their spandex-clad counterpart. They had long ago learned to tune out the incessant chatter regarding the 'flames of youth', but had never really asked themselves why their partner seemed so obsessed with the concept.

Lee, for his part, had always assumed they knew. The Flames of Youth™ were a symbol that determination and optimism could overcome any bad situation. When Gai had introduced him to the concept, he had immediately latched onto it as the philosophy that could help him achieve his life's goal – to become a true ninja, despite his inability to use chakra. All it would take was determination, and optimism. The former Lee had an overabundance of, and, much to his surprise, the second built quickly as his hard work showed results. Now, however, was his first public test of his own abilities. He tested himself constantly, of course, setting goals for himself that, if not met, would be cause for even more work until that challenge had become trivial, and he could move on to the next. The chunin exam, however, was an external evaluation, and Lee's first chance at public validation of his ambition.

He was, of course, nervous about this, and so he did what he always did when doubt crept into his mind – shouted it down with reassurances that determination and optimism would carry the day. The Flames of Youth would prevail. 

As they approached the Academy, however, Lee made a conscious effort to stop the nervous habit. Tenten naturally noticed the difference. Neji did too, but couldn't be bothered to recognize the change.

“You're awfully quiet all of a sudden, Lee – not that I'm complaining, of course. What's going on?” Tenten asked, puzzled.

“I think it might be a good idea for us to lay low as much as possible. If we mute our Flames of Youth™, we will deny critical information to our youthful opposition!” Lee began whispering, but as his exuberance mounted during the course of his sentence, his volume increased. By the end of the sentence, it was little more than a stage whisper. Luckily, no one was around to overhear. 

“That sounds like a great plan, Lee.” Tenten replied. Lee, in his sudden burst of nerves as they entered, failed to notice the patronizing tone she used. 

Several other groups entered shortly after they did, making them the de facto leaders of this particular group of chunin hopefuls. 

Lee didn't pay any attention to the ninja around him. Much of his focus was on pushing down his anxiety about the upcoming test, and thereby controlling his impulse to burst into a litany regarding the youthfulness of his opponents. He knew the Academy's layout by heart, so gave little thought to where he was headed, despite being in front of the pack.

Thus the punch to his face came as somewhat of a surprise to him. Thinking quickly, he chose to fall with the blow as if it had hurt, instead of doing what his instincts demanded and retaliate. Tenten rushed to his side, overtly looking him over for injuries, but discreetly readying a kunai for use if necessary. 

The two looked older than their group of genin by a couple of years, and as the two aggressors sneered down at them, Lee came to the abrupt realization that in this sort of test, the competition was likely to make their own rules regarding who passed and failed. This was confirmed by the thug on the right, who swept his gaze over the captive audience.

“Pathetic,” he commented, sneering at the crowd to ensure they didn't think he was only talking about the downed genin, “I don't see any reason for this bunch to continue, the test is just going to chew them up and spit them out.”

“Really, we're doing you a favor,” the other thug commented, “people get killed in this test. It's better to be disappointed now than to throw your life away.”

A genin with short black hair pushed his way to the front of the group. “Oi, drop the genjutsu,” he said.

“Oh?” the thug on the right said, “you saw through us. Maybe you're worth something after all.” He formed a handseal, and the number on the door they were standing in front of changed from 3-A to 2-A. Lee, having been on autopilot, hadn't even registered the genjutsu.

“Sakura, you noticed too, didn't you?” the boy continued, looking at a pink-haired girl that had made her way up to him. “You're the best on our squad when it comes to genjutsu.”

Sakura blushed, and said something back, but Lee didn't really catch it. He was entranced by the pink-haired genin. The delicate blush of her cheeks matched the gentle tint of her hair, both so beautifully framing her green eyes. The curves of her body, as modest as the girl herself, shifted as gently as a summer breeze as she spoke. Lee's gaze snapped to her hip as she shifted her weight, and he heard his heart beat impossibly loud, louder than it had ever been even during his most intense exercises.

His attention was wrenched away as the level of aggression spiked in the room. Almost without thinking, he jumped to the center of the room, catching one of Sasuke's legs and one of the thug's as they descended towards each other. He held them for a moment, waiting for the two combatants to calm down. Then, he let go, and the tension in the air dropped significantly as the two backed away.

“Hey, what happened to 'muting our Flames of Youth'?” Neji asked. Lee blushed, but couldn't take his eyes off the stunning girl before him. He strode up to the object of his admiration.

“You're Sakura, right?” he said, then gave his best Nice Guy smile. “Please go out with me. I'll protect you until I die!”

The girl looked stunned, but slowly responded. “Definitely not. No way.” Lee's smile froze on his face, while Sakura shuddered. “Too intense,” she mumbled, desperately looking for something else to be doing.

Lee slumped, disheartened by his vicious rejection. He stayed that way until Tenten dragged him away to take the first exam.

 

Anko paced nervously on the roof of the building adjacent to Konoha's Ninja Academy. Everything was prepared – the banner was complete, she had a clear line of sight to the classroom and her little speech planned out. It wasn't every day that Anko was approved to interact with Konoha's up and coming youth. She wanted to make a good impression.

It should be noted here that Anko's opinion of a 'good impression' for a superior ninja meeting inferiors was hand-crafted by none other than Orochimaru, the traitorous snake Sannin of Konoha and notorious sadist, and consequently involved a healthy dollop of pants-wetting terror.

Anko scowled at the room full of kids nervously scribbling on paper. Why couldn't they take the damn test faster? She wanted to make her entrance now, to see their shining, awed faces as they looked up at her and realized that this was what they wanted to be. She paced for several more minutes before turning away from the window deliberately, taking a slow, deep breath.

She turned around, and to her immense relief saw Ibiki giving his 'final question speech'. As she watched, some bratty kid slammed his hand on the desk in front of him and started shouting. Ibiki leaned back, grinning, and said something. The remaining students showed strong reactions, some sagging in relief while others looked shocked, and still others slightly angry. Anko grinned.

It was go time.

 

Shikamaru sighed despondently as the insane purple-haired woman explained the rules of the next part of the test. Three days, two scrolls, don't get beaten, make it to the tower. The rest was, 'blah blah people die, blah blah intimidation.'

The whole situation was extremely troubling. He couldn't quit because his mother would kill him, then enact a dark ritual to reanimate his corpse so that his teammates could have a go at him too. He didn't want to win, because that meant a promotion, and promotions meant more work. He didn't want to die, and he didn't want to kill anyone. 

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he noticed the insane proctor licking the blood off of Naruto's cheek, then found his curiosity piqued as he noticed Haku making her way into one of the privacy booths set off to one side, presumably where the teams would get their scrolls.

His attention was distracted as a piece of paper was thrust into his face.

“Earth to Shika...we've gotta sign these to get our scrolls,” Ino said, resting her free hand on her hip and scowling at him.

“Yeah, yeah...just gimme a pen.” Shikamaru grumbled, and resentfully took the proffered writing instrument. After signing his name, he made his way over to the booth that Haku had vanished into. Chouji and Ino exchanged a confused glance before following him. It was entirely unlike Shikamaru to take initiative on anything, much less something as troublesome as an exam.

They were further shocked to see Shikamaru actually interacting with the girl at the table. He wasn't talking, exactly, but he did seem to actually be paying attention as the girl spoke.

“...and we finished up the latest batch of numbing poison, so she told me to come hand out scrolls for the exam.” 

Shikamaru shook his head. “I can't believe you actually know that nutjob.”

“I can't believe you're actually talking to a girl voluntarily.” Ino interjected, handing her signed permission slip to said attendant. She looked like she was about to object, but Ino failed to notice. “Hi, I'm Ino. You must be something to actually pull words out of Shikamaru here.”

Taken aback, Haku just muttered, “Nice to meet you,” and took the permission slip from Chouji, who smiled at her and nodded.

Haku handed Shikamaru a white scroll. “You have a heaven scroll, so you're looking for an earth scroll to complete the set. You're going to start at gate 12. Good luck.” 

“See you later,” Shikamaru commented, tucking the scroll into his pocket as he left the tent. Ino and Chouji quickly followed.

“Soooo....who was that?” Ino asked. Her voice was practically dripping with eagerness at the prospect of new gossip.

“Haku.” Shikamaru said, staring straight ahead.

“I see...and you two seem awfully friendly.” Ino commented. Shikamaru ignored her.

“Where did you guys meet?” Ino asked.

“Cloudgazing,” Shikamaru replied, trying to keep his answers short. He winced slightly as he heard Chouji inhale sharply.

“She interrupted your cloudgazing, and you actually talk to her?” The bigger boy asked, slightly concerned.

“She's quiet. She doesn't ask questions. She knows how to keep out of other people's business, unlike some people.” Shikamaru shot a glare at Ino, who grinned unabashedly back at him.

“And when was this little cloudgazing tryst?” Ino asked.

“Two weeks ago,” Shikamaru replied with a sigh. Might as well answer all Ino's questions, or she would just bug him about it for the next three days.

Ino whistled. “Wow...you move fast, Shika. Just two weeks and already your girlfriend is giving you a little piece of heaven.”

Shikamaru groaned. It was going to be a long, long three days.


	6. The Forest of Death, part one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter focuses on one group of characters. I tried to avoid that in most of the story, but apparently it just worked out this way. I'm also beginning to realize that what I originally intended as a small continuity wrapper around a series of sexual encounters has somehow become a massive storyline.

In the Forest of Death, a young woman with red hair was huddled against a tree, staring at a gigantic bear that was approaching. She couldn’t see it very well, since her glasses had fallen off in her panic. She groped for them with her right hand, while her left clutched the scroll of earth their team had been given.

“Where the heck are you guys!” she yelled, panicked. The bear charged at her, and the girl closed her eyes, awaiting her death. Then, in her mind, she saw a wave of shimmering light surround her and the bear. The bear’s charge slowed, and its legs collapsed below it. The bear slid several feet before stopping, and the bear seemed to be panting heavily, as if it had been running a long time. The girl finally found her glasses, and put them on, opening her eyes. The bear was covered in the shimmering lights, which Karin vaguely identified as insects of some kind, and a boy with curly hair appeared. He had sunglasses on, so the girl couldn’t see his eyes, but she somehow felt as if she were being evaluated. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could a second ninja landed between her and the boy.

“I won’t let you hurt her,” the girl said fiercely. The newcomer had mint green hair, and was wearing a skirt over a fishnet pair of shorts, with a similar arrangement covering her top. She had taken up a taijutsu stance as she had landed.

“I have no intention of harming the girl, or yourself. I was simply evaluating the situation.” The boy said this levelly, showing no emotion in his voice or what was visible of his face.

“Don’t lie to me. You’re a monster, just like me. I can tell. Now go away and leave her alone!” The girl motioned fiercely with both hands as she spoke, lending an unusual vehemence to her words.

The boy cocked his head to the side. “It seems you have been misinformed. You are not a monster, but an attractive young kunoichi. This can be proven simply; monsters do not protect strangers, but instead attempt to exploit them for their own benefit. Unless you plan to use or otherwise betray the woman behind you, you cannot be a monster.”

“Of course I’m not going to do that!” the green-haired girl snapped. She chose to ignore the remainder of the boy’s logic for a moment. “But I know you’re like me, and that means you can’t be good. Leave, before I have to make you leave.”

As the two were debating, Karin looked at both of them, and gasped at what she saw. Their chakra was...weird. The boy’s chakra system seemed fragmented somehow, and all of the   
fragments sparkled in colors that she had never seen before in chakra. Most of them were a light purple at the moment, but as she watched one of the sparkles it deepened to a darker purple. She saw one of the sparkles floating close to her, and watched in fascination as it landed on her hand. It was, indeed, a bug, but it was apparently infused with the boy’s chakra somehow. It made her feel calm.

The girl was entirely different. Her chakra leapt and danced like a bonfire, expanding and contracting and flitting from one side of her body to another. The sheer sense of presence she felt from the young girl stunned her for a moment, and she missed one part of the conversation as she struggled with the need to move that struck her when she felt the girl’s chakra.

“...you, then I would also be interested in protecting the girl’s well-being, which, in fact, I am. Therefore, you have no reason to fear me.”

The green-haired girl was about to respond, and it looked to be a vehement response based on the way she prepared for it by throwing her arms in the air, but Karin interrupted.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such trouble to both of you, but I’m really okay...and I trust both of you not to hurt me. I have been separated from my team, however, and I’m afraid if I stay the way I am I’ll get attacked again. Is...is there any chance I can stay with you two until I find my team?”

“That is acceptable,” the boy stated impassively, “will you also be joining us? My name is Shino Aburame, genin of Konohagakure.” The other girl still looked at the boy with a pensive face.

“I’m Karin, genin of Kusagakure. It’s nice to meet you, Shino.” Both of them then looked at the green-haired girl expectantly.

“Fu. From Taki.” She stated shortly, “I guess my observation mission is blown, might as well stick with you guys.”

Shino raised an eyebrow at this. Karin noted in surprise that the color of the sparkles surrounding him shifted in a wave of color, from a serene blue to a bright green. It seemed the colors may be attached to his emotions.

“You were sent alone to observe chunin hopefuls as they entered a test designed for testing their survival and combat limits? Unless you are a jonin level ninja, it sounds very much like a suicide mission.” As he said this, he began walking, and the girls followed.

Fu laughed bitterly. “I’ve survived worse, and probably will again. My village likes to give me all the dangerous jobs. I’m pretty sure they’re hoping I’ll die on one of them someday.”

Karin gasped. “Why would they do such a terrible thing? You seem like such a wonderful girl.” She blushed a little at this, and her eyes got a little...well, sparkly is probably the best term for it. Fu didn’t really know how to react.

“I have a demon inside me, and they’re afraid of it. They think if I get killed, it will remove the danger that I represent to the village.” Fu sounded angry at this last.

“That is illogical. If you truly do contain a beast capable of destroying their village, it is in their best interest to maintain your happiness, in the hopes that you will refrain from unleashing the demon on the village. Antagonizing you in this way increases the probability they will be destroyed, and removes a valuable asset from the village’s arsenal.”

Karin agreed, and they were silent for a moment. Then, Karin asked softly, “Then...if you’re a demon container, and you recognized the same power in Shino, then that means...”

“I too am a demon container. However, for the safety of everyone involved, Konoha has decreed that such things should remain secret. I would appreciate it if you would mention this only to your leaders, as I know is your duty.” 

“And put another target on their radar? I’m not even telling the Takikage about you, they might send me to attack you or something stupid.” Karin noted another wave of green from Shino’s strange chakra lights, quickly followed by a disturbing flash of red. However, the boy showed no emotion on his face. 

“If your village treats you so badly, perhaps you should consider leaving them. Konoha is always looking for competent ninja, and a protective spirit such as yours is valued in our village.”

Fu looked suddenly hesitant. “They’re not so bad. Sure, they send me on dangerous missions all the time, and won’t let me join a team because no one wants to work with me...but everyone pretty much leaves me alone when I’m not on a mission, as long as I don’t wander around during busy times...” Another wave of red, this time much more intense, and Karin could actually see a frown on Shino’s face.

“You defend their abuse by displaying their neglect.” Shino paused, and opened his mouth to continue, but Karin chose to interrupt.

“I think what Shino is trying to say is that you only think they aren’t so bad because you don’t really know what you’re missing. A reasonable village would give you a team, allow you to make friends, maybe have some fun. It sounds like you’re suffering a great deal of emotional abuse, and Shino is offering you all the things you’ve been missing.”

Fu still looked confused, and looked with suspicion once again at Shino. “What about Kusa? Would they take someone like me in, if I asked?”

Karin hesitated, thinking about it, but finally shook her head. “Kusa wouldn’t mind one more ninja, but it’s a minor village that specializes in diplomacy. Having a jinchuuriki around would pretty much paint a big target on us, and we’re not strong enough to defend ourselves from a major ninja village. Konoha, or one of the other major villages, would love to have you. Another jinchuuriki in addition to the one they have would put them in a position of strength. Well, more of one, anyway.”

Fu frowned thoughtfully, and remained silent. Karin took a peek at her chakra, and noted that the girl was shifting through a lot of emotions very quickly - a sure sign of inner conflict. Shino, on the other hand, had acquired a slight pink tinge to his chakra-bugs that Karin suspected was embarrassment. 

“Hey, Shino, you’re a bug specialist, right?” Karin asked. To her surprise, Fu’s head whipped up at that, as she stared at the impassive youth. Fu seemed to abruptly realize how strong her reaction had been, and turned away, seemingly ignoring them both.

“Yes. My clan’s techniques utilize a symbiotic relationship with the kikaichu, which are insects that eat chakra.” Shino responded.

“Sooo...since emotional chakra is the easiest to generate, I bet you feed it to your bugs first, am I right?” A flash of green greeted her statement. Karin was pretty sure at this point that green was surprise.

“Yes. Our emotional chakra is the first that is eaten, which allows us to approach most situations logically. Strong emotions, however, can overwhelm our insects, and we tend to react unpredictably to emotions we do feel, due to lack of experience with them.” 

“I knew it! So that means...if I wanted to make you blush...I bet I would have to do something really embarrassing...ne, Shino-kun?” She moved closer to him as she said this, and wrapped her arm around Shino’s waist. She was rewarded with a stronger wave of pink as she did this. She was pretty sure it wasn’t enough, though...luckily, she had an ace in the hole. She leaned over, and whispered in his ear, “I wonder what I could do to embarrass you that much...do you suppose,” and here Karin gently took Shino’s hand, and rested on the triangle of her stomach left exposed by her shirt, “that would do it...or would it have to be...lower?” This last was barely a breath, and Karin was rewarded by Shino turning bright red, and steam coming out of his ears. Then he passed out. Karin stared at his unconscious body in shock...apparently he hadn’t been kidding about the unpredictable reaction. 

“Ano, Fu...do you think we could stop for a bit? I think Shino needs some rest.” Karin said, giggling nervously. Fu looked at the fallen Aburame, then to Karin. 

“What did you do to him?” she asked, more curious than concerned. The young jinchuuriki took a seat on a fallen log, and continued staring into space. Karin worried at her lip for a moment, then stood up and sat next to the other girl.

“Just embarrassed him. He'll be fine. Listen, I know you’ve got a lot on your mind right now. I don’t mean to push you into a decision or anything but...well, I was hoping we could be friends.”

Fu stared at her as she said this, and Karin thought idly that it was with the same look of shock that she had stared at Shino when he had said he was an insect specialist. “F-friends?” she said, as if testing the word, “I...I don’t know how to be someone’s friend.” 

“Well,” Karin said, scooting a little closer and snaking an arm around Fu’s waist, “friends can do a lot of stuff, but the biggest thing friends do for each other is support each other. So when you’re feeling weak, or scared, or confused, I’ll protect you and help you figure things out, and when I’m feeling weak, or scared or confused, you’ll protect me and help me figure things out. And,” she said, putting on a mock-serious tone, “it’s important that we spend a lot of time together, so we know when one of us needs help from the other.”

“I...” Fu’s voice seemed to stop obeying her for a moment, as her eyes darted around the forest, “I...think...I’d like that.” 

“Good! Now, I want you to try to be nice to Shino...I want us to make friends with him, too.” Fu looked hesitant at that, but finally nodded. She had slumped into Karin’s one-armed hug, and Karin found herself rubbing the young girl’s side in a consoling manner. A few moments later, she spoke.

“Karin...what do you think I should do?” There was a plaintive note in Fu’s voice as she asked this question.

“Well...I think you should do what makes you happy. From the way you’ve described the situation, I don’t think you can be happy in Taki...I don’t think the villagers will let you be happy there. So the only real question in my mind is, where can you be happy?”

“I...I think I could be happy around you.” Fu said hesitantly.

Karin smiled sadly. There was no way Kusa would take Fu in and declare itself a major player in power struggles. Then, Karin straightened as a thought struck her.

“I think I actually might be able to work something out. If you go to Konoha, and I apply to become a ninja ambassador to Konoha, then all three of us could stay together...well, most of the time, anyway.” Karin opened her mouth to continue, but at that point Shino groaned and stood back up, slightly disoriented from his faint.

“Shino! I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize how strongly that would affect you.” A flash of embarrassment tinged with anger met her statement. 

“Your curiosity is understandable. However, fainting has caused me to become disoriented, and I no longer know where my team is waiting.”

“I can help with that!” Karin closed her eyes, reaching out with her senses in search of two ninja together. “Let’s see...three ninja making their way towards the tower far north of us, another team hiding in the bushes about one hundred meters to the east...hmmm, no two-person chakra signatures...but there is a group of a man, woman and dog about fifty meters southwest of us.”

A flash of green from Shino, and an impressed look from Fu caused Karin to flush in pleasure. “That would be them.” Shino immediately started walking southwest, in the direction of his team. Karin and Fu quickly followed, the first wanting to see what Shino’s teammates were like, and the second not willing to let her first-ever friend out of sight. As they walked, Karin gradually realized that the red color she had seen in Shino’s chakra hadn’t dissipated. He was still angry about something.

“Shino? What’s bothering you?” Karin asked softly, and as the red intensified, she realized with shock that Shino was angry with her. 

“It is difficult to determine, but I suspect your actions may have caused some resentment. The Aburame pride themselves on emotional stability, and you unknowingly threatened that pride.” Shino’s voice was level, indicating to Karin that while Shino may be angry, he wasn’t angry enough to react to it.

“I’m sorry,” Karin said, softly, “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I guess I sort of took your non-reactions as a kind of challenge...I won’t do that anymore.” Shino nodded at this.

“That would be appreciated,” he said. Through all this, Fu was looking between the two of them curiously. 

“What do you mean, non-reactions? Anyone with eyes could tell that his bugs were angry...though I think it’s weird that his bugs react to things instead of him. I guess that’s a side effect from the whole ‘bugs eating your emotions’ thing.” Fu stated this casually, as if Shino’s emotions were obvious to everyone, if they would bother to look.

“Uh...Fu? Most people can’t tell what bugs are feeling. In fact, most people don’t even really think bugs have emotions. I’m kind of curious as to how you can tell what they’re feeling.”  
Fu blushed at this, and looked away. She clearly didn’t want to talk about it, but Karin was interested in the girl, and Fu was easy enough to manipulate that Karin decided she was going to get some answers.

“Fu, one of the things friends do for each other is tell each other secrets. So you remember how I told you that I want us to be friends with Shino?” another flush of embarrassment from the bug-user, “That’s something I told you because I trust you. If you want to be friends with us, you should tell us things that you might not tell other people.” Fu seemed a little upset at this change of the rules of friendship, but finally sighed and nodded.

“Alright. The reason I can tell what insects are feeling - and talk to them, since I’m sharing secrets - is because the demon inside me is a rhinoceros beetle.” Fu looked at the ground as she finished, not wanting to see their faces when they heard her secret.

Shino spoke after a moment. “My demon is a fox. I think, given a choice, I would have preferred the rhinoceros beetle. It would make communication easier.” Fu looked up at this, surprised. Shino’s disclosure of his demon’s form was surprising enough, but for him to say that he would’ve preferred to have a bug living inside him...that was just astonishing. Of course, Shino already had bugs living inside him, so maybe from his point of view, one more didn’t make that big of a difference.

“Well,” Karin chuckled, “if we can ever figure out a way to trade demons without destroying the countryside, you two can switch, and everyone will be happy! Shino will have more bugs, and Fu will be more foxy than she already is.” Karin winked at Fu, who blushed. She didn’t really understand the reference, but Shino did and his bugs displayed a wave of confusion. Before Karin could address the new emotion, however, they arrived in a clearing, where a young boy with wild brown hair,a white dog and a short girl with black hair and white eyes were waiting. 

Kiba gaped at Shino’s company. “What the crap? Shino takes a walk in the woods, and comes back with two hot foreigners? If he can do that, I’ll be right back, and you’d better be prepared for the wave of ladies after me!” With this, Kiba dashed off into the woods, Akamaru in hot pursuit.

Ignoring the antics, Shino performed introductions. “Hinata, this is Karin from Kusa and Fu from Taki. Karin has an earth scroll like us, and Fu doesn’t have a scroll. They’ve both been separated from their teams, so I offered to accompany them for mutual protection. Karin, Fu, this is Hinata, my teammate. The other who ran into the woods is Kiba.”

Hinata bowed to the two girls, but looked up abruptly when Fu growled. “This one has a demon too. How many of you are there?” She demanded, eyeing Hinata with distrust.  
“Fu-chan, be nice,” Karin scolded, “Shino said they don’t like to talk about it, and you’re being rude to Shino-kun’s teammate.” 

Hinata blushed at the attention, but was saved from a response from Shino.

“My apologies. I forgot to mention that both my teammates also house the same demon I do. However, Kiba does so unknowingly, so for his sake I ask that you not mention it again.” 

Hinata resumed her aborted bow, and said, “It’s nice to meet both of you. I hope your teammates are safe.” Karin laughed at this.

“Those idiots? They’re probably already dead without me to look after them. I actually had to stop one of them from walking off a cliff, can you believe that? What kind of ninja misses something like that?”

Kiba returned with an extremely disgruntled look on his face. Behind him were two shinobi, both with Kusa headbands. One was leaning on the other. The odd angle of his left leg suggested it had been broken. When she saw them, Karin rolled her eyes.

“It figures. I leave for fifteen minutes, and one of you breaks something. Do I have to do everything around here?”

“At least they were not eaten by a bear.” Shino commented, taking a perverse amount of pleasure from Karin's wince at the statement. She glared at him, but the look did nothing to dampen his mirth. She looked back to her crippled teammate, and sighed.

“Alright, it looks like we're out of this competition. Here, take our scroll,” she said, tossing said scroll to Shino, “we won't be needing it. Let's head back to the gate, it's probably the safest place to wait out the test.”

Her one healthy teammate nodded, shifting his grip on their injured teammate slightly. Together, they walked out of the clearing.

 

“Why did you do that?” her injured teammate asked softly, “your Heal Bite technique would've taken care of this broken leg no problem.” Karin nodded.

“It would, and I'll heal you when we're out if the Konoha medics don't take care of it for us. Remember, though, our mission here isn't really to look powerful – we're here to make contacts, and I think I just managed to net us a major ally, maybe even two. We can't afford to get killed now, and honestly, none of us is terribly good at individual combat anyways. It's better to bow out now and leave a good impression, rather than take a big gamble for a better impression.”

The injured teammate sighed, but nodded at Karin's evaluation of the situation. Slowly, they hobbled their way back to the gate.

Back in the clearing, Fu watched her first-ever friend walk out of the clearing, supporting one of her team members. She was confused about what to do – her mission was a bust. She wanted to go after Karin, but she also had the impulse to watch the three demon containers to make sure they didn't do anything...evil.

Shino saw the difficulty she was having, and chose to assist. “Perhaps they could use an escort back to the gate. With an injured member, they will be open to attack, and their lack of a scroll will likely not protect them until it is too late.”

Fu nodded at this, but eyed Hinata and Kiba warily, still hesitant to leave them on their own.

“My teammates and I will be making a direct line to the tower, barring any encounters with enemy teams. When Karin and her team arrive at the gate, you can find us along the way. Perhaps we could speak more about the opportunities Konoha offers.” Despite being delivered in Shino's characteristic monotone, Fu could hear the hope that Shino's kikaichu hummed out. She nodded reluctantly.

“Don't go too far. We'll be quick.” With that, the green-haired jinchuuriki vanished into the foliage. Shino stared into the forest for a moment, before turning to his group members. They were both gaping at him.

“Is something amiss?” Shino asked.

They both stared for another moment, before Kiba recovered, pointing an accusing finger at Shino. “You were flirting with her! I don't know why, and I sure as heck don't know how, since you've never had a vocal inflection in your life...but you were flirting!”

“I was merely attempting to entice Fu to abandon her homeland, which treats her as a slave, in favor of joining Konoha. Our nation would be strengthened by the addition.”  
“Ano...I believe Kiba-kun is correct in this, Shino-kun. While your reasoning makes sense, we have never seen you talk so much with anyone, for any reason. What makes her different?”

Shino was silent for several moments. Finally, he spoke. “We should continue moving. Arriving at the tower early will allow us to set traps for those who follow.”

Kiba and Hinata looked at each other. Kiba shrugged, and Hinata sighed, saying, “Yes, let's continue.” With that, they made their way once more through the forest.

 

Fu made her way quickly through the trees, concerned about leaving the three demon containers alone for too long. They didn't seem terribly suspicious, but she had had enough experiences with villagers pretending to be nice to trust too easily.

Karin was a different story. For some reason, the assertive girl had breezed by Fu's habitual distrust of strangers. Not so with Shino – Fu wanted desperately to hate the boy, but he approached everything with such damnably convenient logic that Fu just couldn't see any deception in him...yet. She'd be watching him, hoping he would slip up and show his true colors. Karin seemed to trust him, though, and that confused Fu to no end. Karin looked at Shino the same way she did Fu, with that eager fascination that was simultaneously flattering and frightening. Fu shivered at the thought, then elected to focus on choosing a path through the treacherous woods to her target.

Fu caught up with the three Taki nin quickly, due to their hampered pace. Karin turned and waved in Fu's general direction as she approached, so Fu dropped back down to ground level and joined them.

“Fu! Decided to escort us to the gate?” Karin asked, cheerful.

Fu nodded, eying Karin's teammates. 

“Well, thanks for thinking of us. I doubt anyone would bother attacking the obviously defeated, but it's nice to know we have some options if we do get ambushed.”

“Don't worry about it...I'll take care of anything that comes up. Can...can we talk?” 

“Sure, of course,” Karin said, smiling at Fu while simultaneously leading her ahead of her two teammates to give a measure of privacy. “What's on your mind?”

Fu took a deep breath. “Shino wants to talk to me about, 'the opportunities Konoha offers' when I get back,” she said, attempting to express her distaste at the idea.

Karin nodded. “And you don't trust him, so you're inclined to distrust Konoha in general as well.”

Fu was surprised at Karin's comment, and apparently it showed because Karin laughed. “When your first words to a guy include, “you're a monster”, it's not exactly hard to make a leap to distrust. Honestly, though, I don't know why. He's got a demon in him, you've got a demon in you, he's got bugs, you've got a bug...seems like you have plenty in common.”

“That's exactly the problem,” Fu responded.

“Well, so say you're the same – you're not, by the way, not even close, but let's ignore that for the moment – what would you do in his situation? Say you've lived all your life in a town that pretty much ignores your demon, maybe gives you a couple of nasty looks if anything, and this cute guy walks up and says, 'hey, I come from a town where they beat me regularly for existing.' What would you do?”

Fu fidgeted for a minute before responding in a sullen voice, “I didn't say anything about beatings.”

Karin looked at her, and Fu immediately regretted saying anything.

“All I'm saying is that I think Shino and I might know how much better your life could be, but you just can't see it yet. I know it's a big decision, but I think you should trust Shino on this one, if nothing else. From where I stand, you have very little to lose.”

Then, in a small voice, Fu asked, “What if they pressure Konoha to send me back, or send assassins after me?”

Karin smiled. “Well, that's where Konoha works to your advantage. They're in one of the Great Nations, and while they don't like to upset the lesser nations without reason, they won't hesitate to put up a fight if the cause is worth it – and as a demon container, you definitely are. As far as assassins go, you're going to be in the middle of a hidden village that has some of the most powerful ninja in the world in its walls, Shino's family included. If they try something – and that's a very big if – Konoha is uniquely suited to protect you.”

“You think I should do it?” Fu asked, more for reassurance than information.

“I do.” Karin said definitively, then, after a brief hesitation, “It will also be much easier to stay friends if you are in Konoha.”

The chain-link fence that marked the barrier to the Forest of Death appeared ahead of them, and Fu nodded.

“Thanks for the advice,” Fu said quietly.

“Hey, what are friends for?” Karin asked, grinning cheerfully, “Now, you've played bodyguard long enough. Say hi to Shino for me, and try to keep him out of too much trouble.”

“I will,” Fu said, nodding. Then, spontaneously, she hugged Karin before dashing off into the trees.


	7. Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we see an unexpected side of Lee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains non-consensual, relatively violent sex. If these things upset you, I suggest that you skip the portions of this chapter involving Lee and Kin. I will post a summary of key points in those scenes at the bottom of the chapter for those who do so. These will likely be the worst scenes I write in terms of non-con with the exception of one more Lee/Kin scene, though some future scenes may have unconventional mechanisms to express consent or lack thereof.

Sakura sat in a cave, staring at her two unconscious teammates. She didn't understand. She didn't understand why the strange snake man had attacked, or why he had bitten Sasuke. She didn't understand the symbol he had left behind, or what he had done to Naruto. She didn't understand why he had just looked at her, smirked, and left.

She didn't understand why she had been frozen, incapable of helping her teammates. Now, she had to take care of the two strangely afflicted boys. She had set traps around the area, but wasn't confident in her ability to stay alert for long – she was incredibly tired.

_Hey, get some rest, I can keep watch._

The thought came from the other version of her, the aggressive, violent, impatient one.

 _Can we do that?_ She asked herself silently.

_Why not? I sleep all the time when you read those boring strategy books. I don't know if it would be a good plan long-term to skip sleep often, but you're planning on staying up anyway, so the only thing it should change is how alert we are._

After several minutes of hazy thought, Sakura nodded to herself. 

_Alright, go ahead and take over._

Sakura felt the other version of her, the fox version, she abruptly realized, take control. At that point, however, it was too late. The fox was in charge, and Sakura didn't have the energy to wrest control back.

Fox-Sakura 'watched' the real Sakura fade into unconsciousness, then looked at her surroundings. She knew where Sakura had placed all of the traps. A squirrel suddenly leaped out of the bushes, heading straight towards the trigger of one of the traps. Fox threw a kunai at it, scaring it into the woods instead. She then examined the bushes the squirrel had come from. She couldn't tell, but it seemed as though there was something hiding in the brush.

In the bushes, the Sound team watched Sakura's reactions. They were somewhat dismayed to find the kunoichi relatively sharp, despite her exhaustion. Still, they did have a mission to complete, and if fatigue wasn't going to take care of their problem, they would just have to do it themselves. Dosu gave the signal, and together the three Sound nin jumped out of the bushes, Dosu in the lead. Dosu silently made his way towards the girl. Ten paces out, he leapt into the air to avoid a barrage of kunai, triggered by a tripwire. He laughed at the inadequacy of such a trap – until he saw the tree bearing down on him. He quickly punched through it, and landed safely on the ground – where he promptly received a knee in the gut from a waiting Sakura. She followed this with a right hook that sent him tumbling right back into the bushes he had jumped from. Sakura stood, glaring at the other two Sound nin before her. She could probably take one, maybe hold off two...but three was too much for her, and Foxy suspected the mummy wasn't down for the count.

The one with spiky brown hair opened his hands and pointed them towards her. Fox's eyes widened as she realized there were holes in the center of his palms. She couldn't dodge away, or else Sasuke and Naruto might get hit by his projectile...whatever it was. She closed her eyes, waiting for the blow to strike...and heard the sharp cracking sound of wood exploding. 

Opening her eyes, Foxy found Lee standing there in his creepy green suit, with his creepy caterpillar eyebrows and the remains of a giant root in his hand.

“Are you okay, Sakura-san?” He asked, never looking away from the two ninja.

“Just peachy,” Fox growled, “thanks for the assist. You want to handle Spike, and I'll take care of the diva over there?” Kin scowled at her description, while Lee nodded. “There's a third one in the bushes,” Fox continued, “he's got a weird thing on his arm, not sure what his deal is.”

Lee nodded in understanding, and Fox took that as her cue to launch herself at the Diva. As she ran, she found herself dodging a spray of senbon, some of which seemed to have bells on them. Quickly closing the distance, she opened with a sweep kick, which caused the Sound kunoichi to jump over her leg. Fox continued the motion, allowing momentum to spin her as she extended her grounded leg, aiming the side kick at the falling girl's midsection. It caught her in the arm instead, and the kunoichi grabbed the leg and pulled, throwing Fox off-balance. Fox braced her arms against her shin and pushed down, forcing all of her weight on her hostage leg and preventing a painful split. Kin dropped the leg, unable to hold Sakura's full weight, and Foxy shot forward the instant it hit the ground, headbutting Kin in the stomach. The girl coughed, but brought one knee up to return the favor. Fox took the hit, and grabbed on to Kin's leg, hefting it upwards as hard as she could. Kin tumbled to the ground but quickly rolled back to her feet, Foxy once more giving chase, dodging senbon as she went. This time, Fox quickly circled the girl, and managed to wrap one arm around Kin's neck.

“Game over, girlie,” Fox commented, smirking.

“Yes, it is,” replied Kin, and a jerk of her fingers sent a wave of sound through the clearing. Fox looked unimpressed, until she saw Lee standing still, staring into space. 

“Lee, look out!” She warned, but it was too late. The wave of air hit him head on, and he was sent flying towards the two kunoichi. Fox mentally shrugged to herself, then reached up and snagged the flying ninja by an ankle. She planted her feet, using herself as an anchor to turn his vector into an arc, slamming the green-clad ninja into Kin baseball-style. The two went tumbling away, landing in a mass of arms and legs. Neither of them moved.

Zaku raised an eyebrow at the creative use of an unconscious ally, but then said, “You might as well give up. Even if you could beat me – which you can't – Dosu is still playing possum in the bushes, waiting to see how things play out. Isn't that right, Dosu?”

Said mummy-man appeared in the clearing, shooting a one-eyed glare at his partner.

 _Hey, sleeping beauty. I could use some help here._ Fox called, attempting to wake Sakura. Several seconds later, Sakura responded with a groggy _huh?_

 _It's two on one here, and by the sounds of things they're after Sasuke,_ Fox commented, as Zaku gave a threatening speech to that effect. _Spiky hair shoots air blasts, and from the look of the terrain they can cut, too. Not sure what the mummy does._

 _Alright,_ Sakura replied as the fog of sleep left her, _start with splits, and go from there?_

 _Sounds good,_ Fox replied, and charged at Zaku mid-speech. The boy was rather miffed at being interrupted, but prepared to block Sakura's punch. He was startled when Sakura split into two just before impact, and the surprise won him a nasty shiner. The two Sakuras performed follow-up attacks, one kicking at his left knee while the other aimed a fist at his head. Both Sakuras split once more just before impact, and Zaku's knee buckled, dropping him to a kneeling position. 

Then Dosu was there, throwing a punch at one Sakura, and directing his Melody Arm at a second. His Melody missed, but his arm connected, catching Sakura in the ribs on her left side. She immediately split into two copies, both seeming to slide away from the original's position. Then, with a large puff of smoke, every single Sakura turned into a copy of Dosu. Zaku, caught on the sidelines, saw a giant mass of Dosus.

Realizing that Dosu could be facing poor odds without backup, Zaku fired a wide blast of air, knowing that the clones would ignore it while the real people would be pushed back. Only one body came tumbling out of the group, however, and the real Dosu glared once more at Zaku. Meanwhile, the illusion Dosus were all pointing and laughing at poor Zaku.

Dosu, however, kept his eye on the prize. He was closer to Sasuke now, and in his state it wouldn't take much to end the last Uchiha. He moved to end the game, but was brought short but he sound of kunai whistling through the air at him. He whirled, allowing his thick fur cape to take the blow, then swiftly dashed at Sasuke, bringing his fist down on the boy's throat, only to meet the ground as his fist passed through the illusion.

'Sasuke' opened his eyes – which were green – and winked at Dosu before vaninshing. Dosu made his way over to Naruto's slumbering form, and attempted the same, with similar results. This one blew him a raspberry.

Then, Dosu looked over at where Kin and Lee were still laying, and grinned. He may not know where Sakura was, but Sakura knew where he was...and now he had a hostage. He made his way over to the two – and was abruptly launched into the woods by a blast of air. 

Zaku wore an uncharacteristic smirk as he lowered his hands. A large green boulder sprang from the bushes behind him. He turned to look at it, but didn't react until it was almost on top of him, at which point he blinked in confusion before screaming. Then the boulder smashed into him, hurling him into the woods as well. Three figures, one of them the shrunken form of the 'boulder', dashed off in pursuit.

Sakura, hidden behind one of the trees ringing the clearing, sighed in relief as Ino and company chased the two Sound nin into the woods. 

_We should probably move these two. It sounded like they really wanted Sasuke for some reason, so I doubt they'll give up even if Ino takes their scroll._ Sakura commented in the silence of her own mind. Foxy agreed.

 _Why don't I handle that? You can get back to sleep._ Sakura, with only marginal hesitation, agreed to this plan, and swiftly drifted off to dreamland. Fox looked at her two 'teammates', whom she had moved barely a dozen feet from their respective resting places in the clone confusion, and began the painstaking work of moving both of their unresponsive bodies to a new secure location. She didn't notice the black markings that were slowly drifting across Sasuke's skin.

 

Lee came back to consciousness slowly. The last thing he remembered was a massive blast of air, and suddenly he found himself resting on something soft and warm. His left arm was wrapped around the soft thing, and his right was bent awkwardly underneath him. Groggily, he raised his head, and found himself staring at the visage of the unconscious Sound kunoichi. He jumped to his feet as the Sound girl moaned, her eyes fluttering open and looking around before fixating on him. He took a ready stance as the girl got to her feet, then felt mildly foolish as Kin yawned.

“You don't have to worry. My target got away, and I'm not interested in the scrolls, if you even have one.” Kin locked her hands together and raised them above her head, leaning back to stretch her back and shoulders. This movement molded her vest to her figure, and made Lee oddly uncomfortable.

“Why was your team targeting Sasuke? Further, why did you enter the competition at all, if you have no intention of winning?” As he said this, he relaxed his stance somewhat. Kin, hands still locked together, leaned down to touch her toes. As she did so, her long black hair spilled over her shoulder. She looked up at him in this position, and Lee felt even more uncomfortable. 

Kin straightened from her stretch, and looked the green-clad ninja over, very obviously focusing on certain portions of his anatomy. She approached him, taking languid steps that emphasized the sway of her hips.

“I'll tell you,” she said, talking so softly that Lee had to lean closer to hear, “provided you give me something that I want.” Kin's tone suggested very clearly what exactly she wanted. Unfortunately for her, Lee wasn't exactly well-versed in the art of female body language.

“And what would that be?” he asked. Kin's proximity was making him even more uncomfortable, but at this point backing down would be seen as weakness. He tried to remember that she was an extremely dangerous enemy kunoichi with ambiguous motivations, but unyouthful thoughts kept sneaking into his mind regardless.

Kin giggled, placing a hand on Lee's chest. “Oh, I think you know what I want.” Kin then shot a very conspicuous glance at Lee's crotch, which was extremely youthful. Lee, having the sexual competence of a pile of bricks, jumped to his own conclusion.

“Ah, I understand.” Kin gave him a devilish smile. “I can talk to Guy-sensei about getting another taijutsu training uniform for you, but he's very particular about who gets them.” The smile froze on Kin's face. A vein appeared on her forehead as she said, through clenched teeth, “I was talking about what's inside the training uniform.” Lee looked puzzled for several seconds, during which Kin's anger continued to build. How thick is this guy? According to my seduction sensei, he should be putty by now.

Finally, Lee understood what was happening. He jumped away from Kin, promptly taking up his taijutsu stance once more. “You're trying to seduce me!” he yelled.

Kin blew out a frustrated breath. “Well, I was, but you sure as hell killed the mood.” She then started mumbling something about virgin ninja otaku.

“Why did you attack Sasuke?” Lee demanded. He tried to ignore his body's reaction to the woman and her actions, but realized it could hamper his movements, not to mention being quite embarrassing. 

“Alright, fine. I'll tell you why we attacked, if you tell me about Orochimaru's exile from Leaf Village.” Lee considered the kunoichi for a long moment, wondering what use that information could possibly be for her, before nodding.

“Orochimaru was found performing experiments on the unwilling citizens of Konoha in an underground lab. There are indications that he had been doing it for quite a while. When he was finally caught at it, he escaped from the tunnels and disappeared. Nobody knows where he is now.” Kin nodded thoughtfully at this. It didn't match the story she had been given, of course, but propaganda wasn't generally terribly useful if it just told the truth. Now she just had to figure out how much of each story was true.

“Thanks for the info. As for why we were attacking Sasuke, we were acting on orders. The Otokage told us to enter the chunin exam and wait for an opportunity to kill him. I don't know why, though. In Oto, asking questions about a mission is a good way to experience a 'mishap' during it.”

Lee eyed the kunoichi doubtfully, but then nodded. “Then our business here is done. You are free to leave.” Kin snorted at that, since she suspected she could take the Leaf nin out in a fight if it came to that, but nodded anyways.

“Have fun taking care of your...problem.” Kin smirked, then vanished into the woods. 

Lee dropped his fighting stance, suddenly becoming aware of how very uncomfortable he was. He pressed a hand against his crotch, attempting to force himself back to a normal state. This only seemed to encourage his problem. Moving next to a tree, he quickly slid one hand down his pants, readjusting himself so he wasn't tenting his pants anymore. As he was finishing his adjustment, an image of Kin stretching flashed into his mind, and he felt himself twitch. It suddenly occurred to Lee how good adjusting himself had felt, so he 'adjusted' again...and then a third time. Soon, he was stroking himself at a brisk pace.

Kin grinned from the underbrush she was hiding behind. She knew he would wind up 'handling' his problem. Sure, he was completely oblivious to sexual innuendo, but no sane person just ignored the messages their own body was giving them. As she thought that, she slipped a hand into her own pants, intent on taking care of the messages she was receiving from her body as she watched the boy get himself off. Soon, Lee's hand was a blur as he stroked himself, and Kin fingered herself rapidly, attempting to keep up with Lee's blistering pace. Her fingers moved so fast trying to keep up with the young boy, she didn't realize she was close to the edge until Lee shouted, “UWOOOOOOOOOO!!!” and the exclamation surprised her into an orgasm. Her own exclamation of pleasure joined his, and she quickly clapped a hand to her mouth. She looked behind her, only to see that Lee had disappeared. She removed her hand from her pants, and stood up – only to run face-first into Lee's solid frame. He looked entirely different to her. Before, he had been wide-eyed an innocent, looking a bit goofy. Now, his pants low against his hips, erection standing tall, and a burning desire in his eyes, he didn't look goofy at all. Kin swallowed, attempting to clear her suddenly dry throat, and opened her mouth to speak.

All she got out was a “I u-aaah!” before she found herself lying supine on the ground, pants and underwear pushed down to her ankles. Lee looked as though he hadn't moved, but he was the only one that could have done that. Lee's head turned slowly, fixating on her exposed crotch. The heat of his gaze embarrassed her somewhat, but the sheer intensity of his gaze had her transfixed. She couldn't tell if it was exciting or terrifying – somehow, she thought it was both. She could feel her pussy dampening, and was desperately trying to convince herself that her anticipation of what came next was terror and not longing.

Then he was atop her, as if he had teleported, and buried to the hilt in her cunt. Kin stared wide-eyed at the ninja that had appeared atop her. Then the feeling of his sudden penetration hit her brain, and she screamed in...pain? Pleasure? Surprise? Fear? Perhaps all of these, perhaps something entirely different. She didn't really have time to contemplate, as the taijutsu master was furiously pumping himself in and out of her. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on for dear life as her mind was overwhelmed by the stimulus. She came seconds later, shrieking as the feelings reached their peak. Lee seemed to ignore this, maintaining his blistering pace. Kin could hear the wet sound her sex was making as Lee worked himself in and out of it, and would later be glad for her tendency to over-lubricate. Now, however, she was too busy fighting her second orgasm. She lost the battle, and a third followed seconds later. Lee seemed oblivious, pounding into her mindlessly. Kin rode the waves of pleasure that followed, losing track of how many times she had come in what seemed like an endless wave of sensation. Eventually, however, Kin heard a repeat of Lee's first exclamation, a strange, “UWWOOOOAAAA” sound, and she felt him move even faster as his cock twitched inside her. She screamed yet another orgasm, then spasmed as yet another followed on the first, triggered by Lee's final and extended thrust into her. Her eyes rolled back as she felt him shoot his seed into her, and a third orgasm hit. Then, she knew only darkness.

Lee, panting, gradually reasserted control of himself, and was astonished at where he found himself. Panicking, he stared at the woman under him. She was unconscious, and fluids were slowly dripping from her abused snatch. He tried to clean her up as best he could, using the cloth portion of his forehead protector. He pulled her pants and underwear up, leaving her clothed on the ground, then went to hide under a bush to watch, ensuring no harm came to her before her teammates found her. No further harm, he corrected himself. As he watched, he contemplated the consequences of his actions, his eyes haunted.

 

Several minutes later, Kin awoke to find herself alone, and relatively clean despite her previous activities. She stood up slowly, feeling the new aches and pains along her back from her rough bed, before stretching her legs to feel the cramps in underused muscles. She slowly walked into the clearing, headed towards where she had last seen her team members. Her legs felt wobbly, as if she had spent too long training them. She continued into the forest for several minutes before finding Dosu and Zaku, both tied to a tree. She untied them, confirmed that the Konoha team had taken their scroll, then followed her team as they discussed plans to get new scrolls. Their mission a failure, they could at least continue on with the chunin exam. Kin honestly wasn't sure she cared any more, as her mind seemed preoccupied with the strange Konoha ninja that seemed so innocent, and yet so incredibly aggressive. 

 

Fu was somewhat more composed upon her return trip to Shino's last position. Talking to Karin-chan had settled her mind, laying rest to the whirling questions that had plagued her mere minutes before.

She came upon Shino's group in time to find them ending a fight against another team. Shino was facing off against a lithe woman holding two kunai. Hinata, veined eyes bulging, was  
chasing down a young man who was having difficulty breathing. Kiba was tying up his opponent, a shortish ninja of indeterminable gender.

Shino's bugs were humming excitedly, dashing to and fro at his command in an attempt to box the agile kunoichi in. She kept jumping out of Shino's traps, managing to just clear the clouds of bugs, forcing Shino to redeploy his insects. Gradually, the kunoichi worked her way towards Shino. Then, in a burst of speed, she dashed to Shino's position, engaging in a furious bout of taijutsu. Shino desperately fended off attacks for several seconds before finding an opening, striking the kunoichi in the solar plexus and stunning her long enough to gain some distance.

Fu found herself worrying about Shino - he was breathing heavily and his bugs were agitated. He had definitively lost that confrontation.

Fu was so absorbed in ensuring Shino's safety that she failed to realize that Shino was blocking her line of sight to the kunoichi. She didn't hear the kunoichi's frustrated growl at losing her prey, or the kunai she launched in Shino's direction.

She saw Shino dodge, but realized too late what was happening as the kunai whistled directly at her head.

Then something heavy smashed into her, and the ground punched her in the side. Dazed, she looked up to find Kiba, the member of Shino's team that didn't know about his demon, grimacing as he cradled his arm. The deadly kunai had embedded itself in his bicep. Fu could only stare at her surprising rescuer. Luckily, Hinata had finished disabling her opponent moments before, and quickly made her way over to Kiba, yanking the kunai out of his arm mercilessly and wrapping his arm in bandages with a professional hand. A shrill scream marked the end of Shino's fight as his kikaichu swarmed the exhausted kunoichi.

Fu was still staring at Kiba.

"You doing alright down there?" Kiba asked with a touch of concern. "Sorry about the rough treatment."

"You saved me." Fu commented, disbelief clear in her voice.

"Yeah," Kiba smirked, "I'm awesome like that."

"Is anyone injured?" Shino asked as he approached, presumably addressing the group as a whole, but looking only at Fu. His insects whined in anxiety.

"I'm good, got a bit of a scratch but nothing a little attention from Hinata-chan won't fix." Kiba commented slyly. Fu was still staring.

"Why did you save me?" Fu asked.

Kiba blinked. "Well, it looked like you got blindsided by that stray kunai. Shino seems kind of attached to you, it'd be a shame if you got killed by something so random."

Shino offered Fu his hand. "I appreciate you protecting my interests, Kiba."

Fu took his hand and pulled herself to her feet, not sure how she felt as being referred to as Shino's "interest".

"Shall we continue on to the tower?" Shino asked.

"Yeah, I can't wait to sleep in an actual bed again," Kiba commented, leading the way to the tower. His team followed, Shino pausing momentarily to wait for Fu to join them.  
"Did Karin and her team make it safely to the edge of the forest?"

"Yes, we had an interesting talk."

Shino buzzed with excitement.

"I see," Shino said, voice level, "you seem less conflicted. Have you come to a decision, then?"

Fu nodded, but didn't look at Shino.

"I'm sorry Shino, but I can't abandon my village so easily." Fu winced at the disappointment evident in his swarm.

"I see. Would you mind explaining your reasoning?" Fu nodded, but took a moment to organize her thoughts.

"All my life, I've seen the world from my own perspective, never influenced by anyone else. The things you and Karin object so strongly to have always been a part of life to me, like sleeping or rain. You two have given me things to think about, but Taki has been my home all my life. I can't just abandon that on the word of two people I just met."

Shino nodded, and Fu released a breath she didn't know she was holding as his disappointment became less pronounced.

"So what do you plan to do now?"

"I'm going to go back, finish the mission, and basically keep doing what I've been doing. I'm going to keep what you and Karin have said in mind, though, and if I see that things are as bad as you say, I'll come back here for good."

Shino nodded. It wasn't what he was hoping for, exactly, but he could understand her reasoning, and had little doubt that she would return, probably sooner than later.

The tower appeared between the trees.

"We have arrived. I take it you will not be entering with us?" Shino asked.

"No, I should be getting back. It...it was nice meeting you, and thank you...for everything."

Shino nodded. "If you need to return, just ask the gate guards to be escorted to the Aburame compound."

"I will. Good luck in the exams." Fu smiled hesitantly at the bug-boy.

Shino nodded silently, and followed his team into the tower. Fu vanished into the forest. 

 

Lee stared at the arena floor in front of him, uncharacteristically morose. It was the day before the deadline, the next big step in his ambition to become a ninja, but he just couldn't summon up his normal enthusiasm. Every time he tried, the Sound kunochi's terrified visage would present itself in his mind, and his enthusiasm would pop like a soap bubble.

“Hey,” he heard next to him, “can we talk?” He recognized the voice and, steeling himself, he turned to face the woman he had assaulted. He nodded stiffly to the girl, not trusting himself to speak.

“Somewhere private,” the girl continued, “unless you want everyone to hear what I have to say.”

Lee wasn't entirely sure that, in her position, he would be pursuing a private conversation with a sexual predator, but he couldn't exactly tell her that he didn't trust himself alone with her. Not in public, at any rate.

He led the way to a nearby medical room, used to treat people injured in fights. There were more medical bays on the outside edge of the tower, more likely to be occupied by the injured from the Forest of Death. The inner rooms, however, were largely vacant. He entered first, making a show of examining one of the anatomy information fliers decorating the room. This one showed the chakra system. He heard Kin close the door behind him. The sigh of cloth on cloth indicated that Kin had taken a seat on the single bed that the room contained. Lee remained standing, but turned to face the girl.

She sat on the bed, eyes downcast and hugging her knees to her chest. Lee heard a bell ring.

Then Kin was laying supine on the bed, naked. Her eyes were filled with fear, but she was writhing in pleasure. Her dark hair, tangled and wild, did nothing to obscure her figure as it draped across her form. Her legs were spread, and one hand worked furiously at her clit. She arched her back staring at Lee -

And she was once again curled up on the bed, fully clothed. Lee shook his head, confused.

“I'm sorry, I don't...I just need-”

“I understand,” Kin interrupted in a subdued voice. Silently, she began to remove her vest. Lee opened his mouth to object, and he heard another bell ring.

Kin was naked again. This time, chains from the ceiling held her arms. Lee stared as a bead of sweat rolled down her neck, between her breasts, and down her torso.

Genjutsu, Lee suddenly realized. She's making these visions happen – she's doing this to me. Rage filled him. The illusions stopped, revealing Kin, eyes still on the floor, bare-chested and slowly working at the ties of her trousers. Lee growled and lunged at the woman, pushing Kin against the wall by her neck.

“What did you do to me?” he growled through clenched teeth. He felt a surge of satisfaction at the tears forming in Kin's eyes.

“I'm sorry,” Kin whispered, and the fear in her voice caused Lee to withdraw, feeling his rage wither in the face of Kin's fear. Then he felt Kin's hand slip into his pants, gently stroking his member. His rage redoubled at Kin's latest blatant manipulation.

He threw Kin against the wall to his right. She cried out as her back struck the wall. Her breasts bounced at the impact, her right breast lurching up and across her chest while her left breast slapped against her arm, held tight against her body. She collapsed to her knees, gasping to replace the air she had lost on impact. Lee's gaze fixated on her open mouth, and then he was in front of her, pushing his cock into said mouth.

He rapidly pumped into her three times, inadvertently banging Kin's head against the stone wall behind her. Kin's body convulsed as her gag reflex caught up, and Lee removed himself as Kin went into a fit of wet coughs. Kin took another deep breath as the coughs subsided, and once again found her throat forcefully violated by the berserk Konoha nin, this time using both hands to hold her head still.

Kin did better this time. Lee managed to fuck her throat for nearly ten seconds before she was once again consumed by a coughing fit. Lee once again pushed into her as she was trying to breathe, and began pumping furiously.

Lee felt his climax building and, at the same time, felt Kin begin struggling for breath. He firmed his grip on her hair, and rapidly pounded into her. Finally, he spilled over the edge, forcing Kin's face into his abdomen as his orgasm ripped through him, shooting his seed directly into Kin's stomach. His grip weakened and Kin pulled away, gasping for breath as the remainder of Lee's semen splashed onto her face.

Lee paused only for a moment before tightening his fist in Kin's hair. He flung her off the bed, gripping her pants with his other hand. She braced herself with her arms to avoid hitting the wall head-first.

Kin had only a moment to register that she had lost her pants in the confusion of flight. Then a white-hot bar of pain slammed into her rectum and she screamed. Her face and chest hit the wall as she desperately attempted to escape the pain, her hands clawing at the wall as if she could climb it.

The bar of pain was moving, pulsing inside her. Gradually, the pain began to dull, the sharp, stinging sensation spreading to a pool of fire then, slowly, a dull warmth. A hand wrapped around her throat, pulling her away from the wall and constricting her airflow as it forced Lee's length deeper into her. Her breasts, now the only point of contact with the wall, shot hot sparks of sensation as they moved against the rough stone.

Kin whimpered as sparks began swimming through her vision. A growl sounded behind her, and she gasped desperately for breath as Lee's hand wrapped around her thigh, burying fingers into her sex. Warmth pooled in her belly as they worked into her, joining the dull heat in her ass. Kin closed her eyes as the world started spinning, losing herself in a world of rhythmic, pulsing sensation. Her head felt light, and Kin idly thought she might be floating – she couldn't feel the floor anymore. She could hear a regular squeaking noise, but didn't recognize it as her own voice.

Then Lee's thumb brushed against her clit, and everything fell away into the glorious, shuddering whiteness of orgasm. An eternity passed, and Kin pulled a shuddering breath through her abused, restricted airway. She whimpered as the floating feeling returned, spots of color dancing across her vision. Lee was moving faster now, pounding into her with purpose. Kin felt her body react, building once more towards release. She braced herself, taking as deep a breath as she could. 

Lee slammed into her, harder and deeper than before, and remained buried in her. The shock of impact demanded the release of her recently-gathered air, and another wave of pleasure overtook her as Lee's tool dug into the deepest parts of her.

Then, suddenly, she felt Lee's cock bulge as it began moving, seemingly of its own volition. A series of rapid jerks hit as her orgasm crested, and she felt the warm, pulsing thrust of his release, sending her screaming into an unexplored height of climax.

As the world returned, Kin felt Lee pull away, and heard a soft 'thump' as he collapsed onto the bed. Kin pulled her pants up, grimacing slightly as various fluids caused her underwear to cling uncomfortably. She turned to find Lee holding his face in both hands, shoulders slumped. Kin carefully retrieved her top and vest from the bed, put them on, and left the room. The spandex-clad ninja's sobs followed her, and a grim smile made its way onto her face as she maneuvered on rubbery legs to her room, and a shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a strange view of Lee. In the series, Lee is super optimistic and cheerful all the time, except for two times. When he's fighting, his cheerfulness is gradually overtaken by determination as he gets serious, and when he drinks even the slightest amount he utterly loses control. Those two points got me thinking, and it kind of made sense to me that Lee would have some pretty heavily repressed anger issues focused around being born without a chakra system.
> 
> From there, it made sense to me that Lee's nonexistent sexuality could easily be a third trigger for those issues, and there you have it: an anger-fueled sex monster wrapped in a green spandex coating.
> 
> For those of you who opted to skip the scenes in question, the general gist of the two scenes is this:  
> Lee and Kin have a conversation after they wake up tangled together on the tree. Kin asks about Orochimaru's exodus from Konoha, and Lee learns that Kin's team was ordered to kill Sasuke. Kin then tries to seduce Lee, failing due to Lee's obliviousness. Kin then walks away, but doubles back to watch Lee masturbate as instinct takes over. Kin starts playing with herself as well, accidentally makes a noise, and Lee loses control and takes her by force. Lee later seems deeply troubled by his actions.
> 
> Later, Kin approaches Lee, asking for a private meeting. Lee reluctantly agrees, and the two make their way to a private room. There, Lee is confused as the world begins shifting, Kin suddenly appearing in various forms of undress in front of him before reality reasserts itself. Between these visions, Kin begins removing her clothing, and Lee realizes that Kin is manipulating him. In rage, he attacks Kin, which devolves into another sexual encounter. At the end, Kin leaves Lee sobbing in the room as she walks away with a grim smile.


	8. Aftermath, before PE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee shows remorse, Sasuke thinks about other people for once, and a dog has his day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to skip the preliminaries entirely. It wasn't a decision I made lightly, but after some deliberation I realized that I didn't really want anything to change from canon. Yes, Sakura and Ino are a bit more powerful than they would otherwise be, but ultimately still essentially equal. Most of the other fights would have had minor changes at best, and ultimately I found that the idea of writing the preliminaries was making me enjoy the writing less. 
> 
> A bit of foot fetish and BDSM in this one. If you don't like it, skip the last part of the Tenten/Kiba scene.

Throughout the preliminaries, Gai found himself unable to focus on the youthful competition before him. Instead, he was preoccupied by Lee, whose flames of youth seemed quite dim. In fact, Lee wasn't even paying attention to the fights, but was instead staring at the floor. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes dull. It looked to Gai as if all of the life had been pulled out of Lee.

Finally, as the matches grew to a close, Gai realized that his young student wasn't going to talk about whatever was bothering him without prompting. Gai wrapped an arm around his young pupil's slumped shoulders and thundered, “What is wrong, my youthful student? Aren't you excited about testing your flames of youth against another?”

Lee looked up to his idol briefly, but broke eye contact quickly. Gai's photogenic smile faded into a more serious expression. Something was definitely wrong here. 

“What would you do to preserve your dream?” Lee asked. Gai took a moment to think about the question.

“Lee, my youthful student...dreams are not made of glass. They do not shatter at a blow, they do not bend to resistance.”

“But what if there was something you had to do, and that thing meant you would never achieve your dream?”

Gai put a hand on Lee's shoulder, squeezing it lightly.

“Never is a long time. You'd be surprised at what is possible with a little time and creative thinking. If this thing is so important that it makes you consider giving up your dream, you should do it without hesitation. With determination and hard work, your dream will survive.”

Lee teared up at this, as thoughts of what he had done, what he had to do, and the reassurance that his sensei believed in him all collided in his mind, with only one way out.

“Gai-sensei!” he cried.

“Lee!” came the response.

“Gai-sensei!”

“Rock Lee!”

Lee paused. That wasn't right. The voice that said his name lacked a significant level of exuberance, and seemed a bit exasperated.

“Would Rock Lee please enter the arena for the final match of the preliminaries!” A rather exasperated Hayate yelled, throwing himself into another fit of coughing.

The two green-clad ninja blinked at each other for a moment, both caught with their arms wide open for a manly sensei-student embrace. They simultaneously dropped their arms. Lee turned to the arena, and found a short boy with red hair in the middle of the arena, glaring malevolently at him. 

Lee raise one hand in the air. “I forfeit the round.” His eyes teared slightly as he said this, but his voice was strong. 

_It's not giving up_ , he told himself, _I just have to atone for my actions before continuing on the path to my dreams._

He didn't notice his opponent's visage twist into a rictus of hate, and he was too preoccupied to notice the cloud of sand flying at him. He didn't really believe his opponent would attack him before he entered the ring, much less after he had forfeited. He didn't feel the sand slowly wrapping around his leg.

When the sand began crawling up his right arm, resting on the rail of the outer ring, he blinked and stared at it for a split second. Then he jumped backwards, avoiding the cloud of sand that followed in an attempt to swallow him whole. 

The sand on his arm and leg, however, contracted spastically, and Lee cried out in agony as he felt the bones shatter. A moment later, the sand was gone as Gai expelled it with a strong punch. There were half a dozen people surrounding Gaara, but despite the danger of the people presented to him, the boy continued to glare at Lee and Lee alone.

Lee didn't notice any of this, as the pain caused his world to go dark.

 

Shikamaru was laying in his usual spot in the clearing, staring up at the sky. His mind was on the upcoming chunin exam finals. The preliminaries had been bad enough, with his matchup against the Sound girl. Now, he would be facing up against another girl, this one from Suna. If her performance in the preliminaries was any indicator, she was extremely aggressive, with a bit of a cruel streak. Normally, Shikamaru wouldn't have any issues putting that kind of person down hard, but he had noticed the fear in her eyes every time she looked at her brother. It didn't excuse her actions, but dealing with constant fear like that did earn her some sympathy. 

Lost in his ruminations, Shikamaru didn't notice Haku's silent entrance into the clearing. He jumped slightly when Haku's shadow fell across him, and looked to find the young poison apprentice on her back, staring into the sky with a morose expression.

“Oi, Haku. What's wrong, no greeting today?”

“I am sorry, Shikamaru. Good afternoon.”

Haku's tone was as listless as she seemed to be, so Shikamaru grudgingly did a troublesome thing.

“It seems like something's bothering you.” He couldn't quite make himself actually offer to talk, but he figured it was good enough. Luckily, it seemed he was correct.

“I'm going to meet with my...” here Haku paused, unsure of exactly what to call Zabuza, “Well, he was important to me, once. I just don't really know how I feel about it, or him, or how I want to feel.”

Shikamaru tried, and failed, to curb his curiosity about Haku's past. “Maybe you should tell me about him, it might help you clear things up.”

“I don't know. My past...well, it's not what you would call a pleasant story. I wouldn't want you to think badly of me.”

“A ninja's story is seldom cheerful...death and loss are in our job description. I won't judge you for doing what was necessary.”

Haku's eyes began to water as those words stirred up thoughts of his parents. Taking a deep breath, he began telling his story. He started with the bloodline wars, and his parents. His voice evened out as he spoke about his life as an orphan, and he continued on with Zabuza's claiming him as his tool. He talked about the good times with Zabuza, and the bad. As he spoke, it became clear to Shikamaru that Haku had been trained as the ultimate servant, but Zabuza had become too attached to the young 'tool'. This was underscored by Haku's recounting of Zabuza's “disposal” after the bridge battle. Haku was sobbing by the end of this, and Shikamaru scooted closer, wrapping the androgynous boy in a one-armed hug. Haku leaned into the hug, and was soon sobbing into Shikamaru's chest.

Shikamaru held in a sigh as he gently stroked Haku's back, allowing her to cry herself out. Girls could be troublesome, but in this case he supposed Haku was entitled to a bit of instability.

“So Zabuza is coming to town, as an emissary from Kiri?” Shikamaru asked.

“Yes, he should be here next week. The Hokage has ordered me to be present at the meeting.”

“I may have to thank him. If he hadn't been dumb enough to let you go, Konoha would've lost a valuable member.”

Haku gave Shikamaru a shaky smile. “Thank you for listening. I'm feeling a little bit better.” Haku's stomach growled, and he blushed. “Though apparently a bit hungry.”

Shikamaru chuckled. “Come on, I know a great barbecue place.” He stood up, and held a hand out to help Haku up, which he accepted. Together, they strolled off to dinner.

 

Sasuke was tired of being in the hospital. He had work to do; the final round of the Chuunin exam was coming up, and he had to prepare. Gaara was certainly not going to be a pushover, but Sasuke was pretty confident that he could win. There was, after all, no such thing as a perfect defense. He just had to figure out how to beat him. Sasuke got out of the bed he had been in for the last few days, changed into his normal clothes, and was just about to jump out the window when the door to his room opened. There, in the doorway, was a nurse, whose countenance shifted quickly from pleasant neutrality, through surprise and alarm, and moved directly to anger. 

“Get off that ledge this instant, young man. You are recovering from some very serious injuries, and need your bed rest. What’s more, if you disappear now, you can’t enjoy the visit from these two young ladies.” The nurse seemed to believe that she was offering Sasuke the proverbial carrot. Behind the nurse, however, Sasuke recognized Sakura and Ino, shoulder to shoulder, glaring at each other...again. The nurse turned to the two young women, hoping for some support from that front. When she saw how the two were behaving, however, she sweatdropped, and quickly excused herself from the room. 

Sasuke sighed inwardly. He also sighed outwardly, but he had no hopes of that action being recognized in any way - he had too much experience with the fangirls to think they would actually care about how he was feeling. He thought it was odd how much the two girls fought over him. Their professed love seemed oddly contrived - they encouraged and admired him for everything he did, but seemed to simply ignore anything he said in favor of building on the strange rivalry they had. It seemed sometimes as if neither was actually interested in Sasuke as a person, but rather that each was trying to use him to display dominance over the other. 

At this, wheels started spinning in Sasuke’s mind. Their relationship was the important one, he was just a means to an end. But what was their relationship? They used to be friends, right up until puberty started setting in and everything got confusing. They stopped being friends because they both liked Sasuke, but it had been quite a while since those particular crushes had gotten started. Infatuations like that, he had heard, generally passed relatively quickly, but this one hadn’t. It wasn’t love, Sasuke knew that for a fact.   
Or was it? Well, perhaps not love, but an attraction that couldn’t be recognized? Sakura and Ino, despite their ‘rivalry’ over him, still spent a surprising amount of time together - and every time they engaged in one of their ‘glare-offs’, they generally went for as much bodily contact as they could get away with. 

Well, it was a theory. The nice thing about Sasuke’s status as the fangirl target was that he could get away with some pretty odd things, and the girls would just brush it off. If this test didn’t work out, he could just try something else later to get them off his back. Bracing himself, he summoned every bit of acting ability he had - which, sad to say, wasn’t a whole heck of a lot.

“What do you want?” Sasuke said, a touch of hostility in his voice. It wasn’t exactly acting, but they would ignore it anyway, so it wasn’t a huge deal. 

“Sasuke-kun!” came the chorus. “Are you OK?” Sakura asked. She always did like to get the first word in...and the last...and most of the ones in the middle. 

“I’m fine,” Sasuke replied stiffly, then winced. It was an act, but a little worry would put them in a more malleable state of mind.

“Oh, you’re hurt!” Ino said, guiding Sasuke to the bed, where he sat down. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Ino asked, deliberately excluding Sakura.

“Well...” Sasuke paused, pretending to consider. He saw the hope for acknowledgment grow in the eyes of the girls, and knew he had them where he wanted them. “There is one thing, but I’m afraid it may be too much.”

Ino and Sakura both rapidly shook their heads, eerily in unison. “We’ll do whatever we can to make you feel better!” Sakura declared.

“Well...I’ve been feeling kind of lonely recently. I was thinking about maybe asking one of you out, but I can’t really decide who I like better. I think I’ve devised a competition that will help me decide, but I’m afraid it will be too embarrassing for you.”

At the word ‘competition’, the two went back to their glaring contest. Ino was the first one to break contact, by smirking and stating, “Well, I don’t know about forehead here, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes.” Not to be outdone, Sakura replied with, “Please, I can wipe the floor with Ino-pig in any contest. What are the rules?”

“Okay,” Sasuke stated, preparing for the pitch. If they swallowed this, the experiment would be underway. If not, he would be back to the drawing board. The loud, obnoxious, constantly-chattering drawing board. “I want to see who’s better at kissing,” at this, the two girls blushed, “but I also want to measure your determination as well. So here’s how it’s going to work. You two are going to kiss,” at this, their rosy cheeks were abruptly drained of color, “while I keep my Sharingan active. Then, I’m going to kiss each of you exactly the way the other kissed you.” Both of them were nervous now. He had to tie it all together, so it made sense to them, otherwise they would bail. “When you kiss each other, it will show your determination to kiss me, since I know it’s going to be unpleasant for you. It’ll tell me how much you’re willing to endure for my attention.”

They looked uncertain, but the lure of competition was a siren’s song to these two. “So the better kisser wins?” Sakura asked. 

“Yep,” Sasuke replied. He activated his Sharingan and looked at the girls expectantly. To Sasuke’s surprise, and immense pleasure, Sakura moved deliberately towards Ino. Ino didn’t move. It seemed she was still unsure about the situation, but the determination in Sakura’s eye was not to be denied. She stepped right up to Ino, and planted a firm, but chaste, kiss on Ino’s lips. Ino’s eyes widened in shocked surprise, but she didn’t bolt as Sasuke was afraid she might. 

Sasuke stood up at this point, and approached Sakura. Using his Sharingan, Sasuke planted the exact same firm, but chaste, kiss on Sakura’s lips. Sakura turned to Ino with victory in her eyes, only to find Ino’s hands reaching to cup her face. Ino’s cool hands settled on Sakura’s cheeks, and she gently pulled Sakura into a kiss that, while still chaste, lingered quite a bit longer. Ino finally separated from Sakura. As they separated, Ino noted a confused look on Sakura’s face. Ino was a bit confused herself, but she knew she wasn’t going to lose this competition. The tie in the chuunin exam had been bad enough.

Then Sasuke came over, and kissed Ino exactly the way Ino had kissed Sakura. Ino tried to deepen the kiss, to get an edge on Sakura, but Sasuke’s Sharingan reflexes were emulating Ino’s kiss exactly, so she gained no ground. 

By silent consensus, it seemed that it was Sakura’s turn. She stood for a moment, biting her lower lip, but then finally made a decision. Visibly gathering her courage, Sakura approached Ino. She placed her right hand behind Ino’s head, and pulled Ino into a very long, extremely un-chaste kiss. Sasuke grinned at this, and noted that Ino’s hand had moved to Sakura’s lower back for support. Sakura’s tongue continued exploring Ino’s mouth, and it seemed that Ino was reciprocating. Sasuke, still grinning, made his way silently out the window. Behind him, he faintly heard a moan.

 

Sakura was astonished when Ino’s tongue slid against hers. _Looks like someone’s going for extra credit,_ Fox observed. Not if she had anything to say about it. She wrapped her left arm around Ino’s waist, and pulled Ino to her as she probed deep into Ino’s mouth.

Ino moaned. It was an odd sensation. Physically, Sakura could feel the vibration on her tongue, and was surprised at how good it felt. Emotionally, however, things were a little more complicated. She felt satisfaction and a bit of superiority that she could cause that kind of reaction in Ino. The idea that Sasuke was watching them was exhilarating, as was the prospect of being caught. Despite all that, most of her attention was on the fascinating sensations her mouth was experiencing - and that scared her.

She tried to pull away, but her hand had somehow entangled itself in Ino’s hair. When she stepped back, Ino came with her. Then her leg hit something, and they were falling. Sakura landed on the hospital bed. Ino had managed to arrest her fall with her arms. Sakura looked up to see Ino, face flushed and breathing heavily, gazing at her with a heat in her eyes that Sakura found fascinating - and not a little disturbing, due to that.

She opened her mouth to comment on Sasuke’s disappearance - and Ino was kissing her again. She made a noise that was equal parts surprised exclamation and pleasured moan. For a while, she lost herself in the sensation - Ino’s passionate kiss, the weight of her body pushing Sakura into the bed, and Ino’s knee between her legs causing friction in some very interesting places.

Then reality returned, and Sakura pushed Ino away by the shoulders. Her eyes widened as she looked for her crush. Ino's face loomed once more in her vision, and she yelled, "Ino, Sasuke is gone!" A look of confusion crossed Ino’s face before she looked around, noting that the last Uchiha had indeed made good his escape.

“That bastard!” Ino exclaimed, “I’m gonna find him and...” here she paused, before continuing in a calmer tone, “claim the kiss he owes me.”

“The kiss he owes you?” Sakura asked, incredulous, “It was my turn!”

“Maybe,” Ino commented, “but I kissed back, and I kissed you on the bed, so that means he owes me twice.” Sakura was too busy blushing at this statement to argue, so Ino said, “I’m gonna go collect my debt...wish me luck!” and, with her trademark cocky smirk firmly in place, Ino strode out of the room, leaving Sakura alone, confused, blushing...and really horny.

 

She needed to train. That was her one overwhelming thought as she made her way through the forest. Her performance against the Suna nin was, frankly, embarrassing. Sure, she could make the excuse that it was a bad matchup for her, but the simple fact of the matter was that in real life, you didn't get to pick who you fought. She had lost, and in the real world losing meant dying. She wasn't about to give up on life, so she went with the only other option – figure out how to shore up her now-obvious weakness.

As Tenten approached her habitual training ground, she noticed that it was occupied. Her first tip regarding this was the series of bestial growls, barks, and similar ferocious noises that echoed through the woods. Her second tip was the repeated sound of flesh against wood. Her final clue came as she spied Akamaru at the edge of the clearing. He was laying down, head on his paws, staring into the clearing. As Tenten approached, Akamaru looked up at her and gave a halfhearted wave of his tail, before once again resting his head on his paws.

Tenten entered the clearing to find Kiba mercilessly attacking the center stump in the clearing. She watched the boy attack it for nearly a minute before commenting, “Wow, what did that stump ever do to you?”

Kiba turned to glare at her, which she returned with interest. “Don't you glare at me. At least you landed a freaking hit against your opponent.” Kiba's look softened, and his left ear twitched to the side. God, but that is cute, Tenten thought to herself, before saying, “It sucks that we both lost, but I for one am going to count this as a learning experience. My thrown weapon techniques are good, but I'm going to have to get in closer for some opponents, and if I rely on having a weapon, eventually I'll get disarmed at an inappropriate time, and likely get killed. I need taijutsu training, and lucky for me I just so happen to be looking at a taijutsu expert.”

Kiba scratched his cheek, then looked up thoughtfully. “Isn't your sensei an absurdly good taijutsu specialist?”

“Nuh uh. There is no way I will ever, ever, take taijutsu lessons from that man. Aside from the dangers of screaming my head off about the 'flames of youth', he pounds people into the ground, and then tells them to get back up and do it again. I don't need to have monstrous strength or speed, I just need to be able to take care of myself in close combat. Besides, could you imagine me in that horrible green suit?”

Kiba could, in fact, imagine Tenten in green spandex, and did so for several seconds before shaking himself back to the real world. “Alright, so you need some taijustu training, but what about my issue? My sense of smell is something I rely on in combat, I can't just turn it off without ruining my fighting style.”

Tenten smiled at this. “Oh, I've got a couple of ideas on how to fix that. First, though, the taijustu training. We can fix your problem while we spar.” Kiba shrugged, then nodded. 

“Did you have any thoughts in particular about what sort of taijutsu you wanted to try?” Kiba asked. Taijutsu was a pretty broad field, after all.

“Well, my focus in kenjutsu is generally a precise application of limited force, so taijustu that did something similar would probably integrate well with my style.”

Kiba nodded thoughtfully. “There's a style based on redirection of energies that might work. It's kind of a pain for our style, since we tend to go at someone hard and fast, and if that gets turned against us it can go badly. I know the basics in order to defend against it, so I can start you on those now, and get some resources for more practice later.”

Kiba started her on the style by showing her basic stances and movements, and then explaining the basic concepts of the style, which focused on observing an opponent's balance and movement, and making minor alterations that resulted in catastrophic failures. The two worked on those concepts for a couple of hours, during which Tenten grew increasingly flustered as Kiba would press against several parts of her body to adjust her stance. The fact that he hadn't changed out of his man-beast form only served to further distract her, and images of her disturbing dreams kept flashing through her head. Finally, she made a frustrated noise, and said, “My brain is so full right now. Want to spar a bit? Hopefully, it will clear my head.”

“Sure,” Kiba commented, walking to the other end of the clearing, “whenever you're ready.”

As the last words left his mouth, Kiba dropped to all fours, narrowly avoiding a blunt kunai that was aimed at his chest. He launched himself forward, using his grip from all four limbs. His recent lessons had caused him to remember a relatively unused branch of his own taijutsu that focused on joint locks and incapacitation. It had fallen out of style after the wars with Kumo and Iwa, since each had a fair number of personal defense justu that would render the style useless. Still, a ninja was always prepared, and practicing the old style might help him teach Tenten hers.

He landed about a foot away from Tenten, who had drawn a bo staff from one of her many storage seals and was swinging it in a downward stroke at him. He quickly rolled to the side, then used his legs and arms to pop himself up in the air, avoiding a side sweep from the staff that would've landed him prone. As he came back down to earth, he tucked his head between his arms, rolling forward so he was directly in front of Tenten, still crouched on the balls of his feet.

Unfortunately, this put him directly in front of Tenten's crotch, and the smell of her arousal hit him like a physical blow. Said physical blow left the realm of simile immediately after, as Tenten kneed him viciously on the left side of his face, sending him tumbling away. He exaggerated the roll, sending him in a relatively controlled maneuver towards the center of the clearing. He performed a quick handspring, then landed briefly on the top of the target log in the center of the clearing, before leaping backwards in a moonsault. As he did so, he felt cold steel graze his right calf, and heard a second kunai whiz just below his head. He cocked his head to see an upside-down image of Tenten rapidly whirling the bo staff in a defensive pattern. 

He landed on his hands, just inches away from the whirling bludgeon, and immediately flexed into a handspring. The wood cracked against his right wrist as he left the ground once more, and he felt that hand go numb from the strike.

He landed behind Tenten, and as the girl whirled to strike him with her elbow, he raised his arm. Tenten's elbow caught him in the ribs, and he quickly lowered his arm, trapping Tenten's arm between his own and his chest. He then ran his hand up her side and grabbed her other forearm, pulling it behind her back. Tenten struggled briefly against him which, combined with the olfactory attack he had recieved earlier, caused a strong physical reaction. Apparently, Tenten noticed, because she stiffened in his arms, before slamming her foot into his instep. When his grip on her forearm relaxed, she crouched down, lowering her center of gravity, and used his hold on her arm to execute a hip throw that left him dazed on the ground. Then, she leaped into the air and flung more than a dozen kunai at him. Each kunai brushed lightly against his skin before biting deep into the ground. Kiba was astonished that he hadn't been cut. His astonishment was slowly replaced by concern as he realized that the kunai were pinning him to the ground via his clothes.

“My, my...aren't we grabby today?” Tenten commented playfully. “You wouldn't be trying to take advantage of a poor, defenseless girl in the middle of a spar, would you?”

Kiba laughed. “I have a bruised wrist and several dozen holes in my clothes telling me there's nothing 'defenseless' about you.” 

Tenten smiled, and sauntered over to Kiba's prone form. Her right hand rested on her hip, emphasizing its movement as she approached. Kiba couldn't tear his eyes away as she straddled him, standing so that her feet were even with his knees. She slipped her right foot out of her shoe, and placed it on Kiba's tented crotch. Kiba twitched involuntarily at the contact, and gasped.

“Tenten, what are you doing?” his breath hitched at the last word, as Tenten's dexterous toes grabbed the waist of his pants. She pulled them down, and Kiba's dick came free with a sharp slap onto his abdomen. Tenten let go of Kiba's pants, leaving about half his length exposed. Then, she placed her foot once more on his now-exposed cock and began gently rubbing up and down.

“I'm just following our deal, remember?” She slid his head between her biggest toes and stroked downward, rolling Kiba's foreskin back as she did so. “Training for foot rubs, right? Since you trained me today, you get the foot rub.”

Kiba couldn't formulate a response to that, so he instead chose to sit back and enjoy Tenten's ministrations. She played with his head, gently stroking her toe along the crease between his head and his shaft. When she rubbed against his glans, Kiba's cock jumped at the sensation. Tenten smiled, and pushed down against Kiba's cock, pressing it into his stomach. She started rubbing her foot faster against his length, maintaining a pressure that verged on painful. Kiba started jerking his hips, using his limited movement to increase the sensation.

Then he felt a sharp pain as Tenten dug a toenail into his glans. He gasped as Tenten sternly stated, “I'm the one giving the foot rub here. Are you going to let me, or are you canceling our deal?”

“I'm sorry,” Kiba said, breathless. The sharp pain disappeared, but Kiba felt an uncomfortable pressure from the heel of Tenten's foot.

“Now, now. What are you supposed to call me? I told you when we started these little sessions, didn't I?”

Had the title in question not featured in some of Kiba's more explicit dreams recently, he likely would've forgotten about the 'joke' long ago.

“I'm sorry...Mistress,” he said, feeling a thrill at the words. The pressure on his testicles eased, and Tenten began once more to stroke his length with her foot. It felt fantastic, the combination of the movement of Tenten's foot and the pressure on his cock had him moaning in seconds. It took everything he had not to thrust his hips against Tenten's foot again – he suspected Tenten wouldn't be so nice after a second violation of that rule. Instead, he focused on the feeling, and when the need became too great, he would tighten the muscles in his stomach, pushing with his cock against Tenten's foot.

Gradually, Tenten's speed increased, and she aligned her big toe with his head. Every time her stroke hit its peak, her big toe would brush against his glans. He groaned at the feeling, and felt the slow build of pressure that indicated an imminent orgasm.

“Oh god...I'm going to come,” he gasped, closing his eyes tight. He jerked against Tenten's foot as his orgasm crested – then opened his eyes wide as Tenten pressed her toe hard into his cock, blocking his urethra. The pressure behind her toe began to build, until it was painful. It slowly began to fade as his orgasm passed, but Kiba's cock remained erect as Tenten resumed her stroking, at a somewhat slower pace this time.

“I didn't tell you to come,” Tenten chided, “From now on, you will ask permission before you orgasm, and will wait for my response. Do you understand?”

Kiba took a deep, shaky breath before responding. “I understand, Mistress.” He wasn't exactly sure what had happened to Tenten to make her so suddenly assertive, but he was surprised to find it so incredibly erotic. All thoughts on the subject left his head, however, as Tenten continued her stroking.

It didn't take nearly as long for Kiba's climax to build this time, but he grit his teeth together, fighting off the feeling. “Mistress, may I please come?” he asked, his voice strained as the tension of his impending orgasm was joined by anticipation of her answer. Surely, she would let him come...he had asked properly, after all.

“No. I will tell you when to come,” Tenten replied, her voice cold. Kiba whimpered as the pressure of her foot lifted from his cock, only to groan as Tenten's two largest toes found the groove between his head and his shaft. They began moving, rotating side to side as they slid up and down, sending shocks of pleasure through Kiba every time they pressed against his sensitive head.

Kiba closed his hands convulsively, digging furrows in the soft earth he was pinned to. His feet curled and his legs tensed as he resisted the urge to come. His teeth ground together.

Then, Tenten squeezed her toes together, and Kiba arched his back, whimpering. She began stroking again, and finally uttered the words Kiba had been longing to hear.

“You may come,” she said softly, squeezing once again with her toes as Kiba broke into convulsions. Kiba forgot to breathe as he lost himself in the strongest orgasm he had ever experienced. He came back to awareness, opening his eyes blearily, only to find Tenten frowning at him. His eyes darted around as he frantically tried to determine what he had done wrong. He soon found out, as Tenten presented her foot to him – which had several strands of his semen on it.

“Bad dog, getting your master all dirty. Be a good boy and clean it up.” Saying this, Tenten pushed her big toe into Kiba's mouth. Kiba, startled, held the digit for a moment before gently licking and sucking it clean. He wasn't exactly a big fan of the taste of his own cum. He found it bitter and salty, but moved on to Tenten's second toe without hesitation. He slowly licked Tenten's foot clean, carefully and attentively, until Tenten withdrew her foot, placing it in her shoe once more. She stretched her leg and back, bending in a moderately provocative pose, before shooting Kiba a wink.

“Thanks for the training, Kiba...I'll see you next week.” With that, Tenten strode off into the forest with a spring in her step.

Kiba just stared, trying to wrap his head around the entire encounter and all its implications. It took him several minutes to realize that Tenten had pursued no release of her own, and must be incredibly horny at this point.

It took him several more to realize he was still pinned to the ground, and was going to have some very obvious holes and one extremely inconvenient stain to explain to his mother.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone gets a surprise.

Ino finally found Sasuke - on top of a tall butte in the middle of a training ground resembling the badlands. She considered for quite a while before deciding that Sasuke could, and probably would, stay up there for days, or even weeks, training.

So she started climbing. It wasn’t so much that she wanted a kiss from Sasuke. The kiss would be nice, sure, but really what she wanted was to one-up Sakura - and after her experience in the hospital, Ino was feeling the need for some reassurance regarding some of her assumptions about herself.

She arrived at the top of the butte sweaty, tired, and more determined than ever that Sasuke would be hers. The black-haired boy in question was busy punching holes in rocks. Well, the rocks could wait. They were good at it...Ino wasn’t.

“Sasuke-kuuun!” Ino cried in her best fawning voice. Sasuke stiffened at the dreaded sound.

“I’m busy,” he snapped, once again hoping that being rude would make his ‘love’ problems go away. As usual, it didn’t work.

“But you never told us who won the competition,” Ino fake-pouted. She realized how irritating Sasuke found it, but the bastard had manipulated her into an extremely awkward situation, and she wanted payback.

Sasuke snorted. “The competition was a setup. If either of you ever listened, you’d know I don’t have time for romance. I’m not even going to consider a relationship before my business is done. Besides which, it seemed like you and Sakura were damn near ripping each other’s clothes off when I left the room. How’d that go by the way...how far did you get before she stopped you?” Sasuke was guessing at this point, but from what he had seen, Ino was likely to have been the aggressor.

Ino turned scarlet in embarrassment, while Kakashi, observing from a distance, discreetly replaced his bloodied mask. 

“You still owe me a kiss,” Ino insisted, ignoring Sasuke’s question. Sasuke sighed once more.

“Fine. I’ll kiss you exactly the same way Sakura did.”

“No. None of that garbage, I want a genuine, deep kiss from you and I intend to get it.”

“If you insist,” Sasuke said, resigned.

So the kissed. Sasuke, despite his lack of enthusiasm, gave it his all. Ino could tell he was trying to make it good, but he was just too forceful. He was all take and no give, pushing into Ino’s mouth like an invader. It wasn’t anything like she had hoped. It was slimy and wet, and Sasuke tasted like dirt.

It was nowhere near as good as Sakura’s kiss.

They separated, and by the look on Sasuke’s face, he had enjoyed it about as much as Ino had. Sasuke gave her an odd look - was that pity? - and silently went back to his training. Kakashi appeared next to her, and offered to take her back down to ground level. She accepted, and walked home, deep in thought the whole way.

 

Sasuke turned to the rock he had been practicing, and began a long series of attempts at smashing the rocks to tiny little bits with a lightning-charged punch. Several hours later, he was on his hands and knees panting, sweat dripping down his face. The rock was unharmed. Kakashi had made it seem so easy, smashing the rocks with his lightning-covered fist. Every time Sasuke tried, the lightning he held would either explode into a shower of sparks or fizzle out before he made contact.

He gathered himself, crouching with wide legs, his left hand on his right wrist as it hung toward the floor. He began forming the chakra for the Chidori...and suddenly found himself surrounded by ANBU. Directly in front of him was a cat-masked woman, by her figure.

“You have been summoned by the Hokage. Come with us.”

Sasuke growled in frustration. “I'm busy...I'll talk to him when I'm done training.”

Suddenly, he found himself on the ground, his arm twisted painfully behind his back.

“The Hokage is also busy, and unfortunately for you, he outranks you by a fair margin.”

Sasuke sighed, the breath disturbing the dust his face was currently planted in. “Alright, let's get this over with.

He strode into the Hokage's office as if he weren't being held hostage by four ANBU. As he entered, he saw the Hokage's face smooth into an impassive mask. Not a good sign.

“Thank you, you may go,” he said, dismissing the ANBU. They vanished silently, leaving Sasuke alone with the somber village leader.

“Congratulations on your victory in the preliminaries,” the Hokage began, attempting to break the ice with some light conversation.

“Thanks. I'm looking forward to the final round...which I'm currently busy preparing for. What is this about?”

The Hokage sighed. “It is my duty to inform you that the joint councils of Konoha have decided to place you under the Clan Restoration Act. Are you familiar with the CRA?”

Sasuke shook his head.

“The Restoration Act was written with the intent to protect bloodlines and clan jutsu from extinction. It's a fairly hefty document, but there are a few sections that are relevant to your situation. The first is the subsection allowing and enforcing multiple marriages. Essentially, you are allowed up to seven wives, and are required to have three within the year.”

“Or what?” Sasuke demanded. Marriage certainly wasn't going to happen, not until Itachi was safely dead.

The Hokage took a deep breath. “If you fail to conform to the requirements of the CRA at any time, you will be treated as a hostile ninja. We will lock you in a cell, and periodically harvest your sperm for the creation of a new Clan with the Sharingan.”

Sasuke paled. His encounter with the ANBU was fresh in his mind – they would have little trouble doing that, unless he ran.

The Hokage continued. “Further, you are hereby confined to the city limits. While your ninja rank will remain in place, you are not allowed to undertake any missions. These two strictures remain in place until you have sired a minimum of four children. During this time, you will be provided a stipend by the city to offset the lost income of missions.”

Sasuke had trouble focusing on the last part of the Hokage's statement. Instead he was running through different methods to escape the city. He was interrupted, however, as two ANBU suddenly appeared, facing him. One had a bear mask on, and the other had a hawk.

“These are your personal bodyguards. One of them will be watching you at all times, to keep you safe.” The two nodded at Sasuke, then disappeared. He hardly noticed. He felt numb.

“This can't be happening. I have to get stronger. I have to kill Itachi...”

“And restore your clan,” Sarutobi interrupted. “I know what you've dedicated your life to, and I understand you are upset, but you can still achieve your goals. You just need to readjust your priorities.”

Sasuke swallowed, then nodded. He wasn't just going to sit and make babies like a good little civilian, of course, but he could tell that arguing with the Hokage would get him nowhere.

“Why is this happening now?” He asked.

“It has been proposed several times. The first was when you graduated from the Academy, but there wasn't much support. The second was when you came back from the Wave mission. The civilian council was unanimously in favor of it, but the Shinobi council was more reserved. They thought that, given your popularity with the kunoichi, things might...progress on their own. When Orochimaru attacked, though...most of the Council remember training with him, and when he wants something, he goes after it over and over, using as many different angles as he needs to get the job done. Whether you like it or not, your bloodline is an asset to this village, and we have a responsibility to protect it, and you, from Orochimaru in any way possible.”

Sasuke swallowed, mind racing as he stared at the Hokage. It made sense, he supposed – bloodlines were a major part of what made a Hidden Village strong, and having only one member made it easy for an enemy village to target a wandering Genin and destroy a bloodline entirely. It just sucked that it was happening to him.

“I understand,” Sasuke said, doing his best to sound meek and accepting. “Will I be allowed to finish the Chuunin exam?”

The Hokage allowed himself a smirk at this. “The CRA doesn't seem to mention anything about ninja exams, and in fact actively encourages 'safe' training. I'd say you can finish the exam, but be careful not to overextend yourself. The council is likely to take away privileges such as training if they find it harmful to your health.”

Sasuke nodded. Until he could find a way to escape, he had to make sure he was allowed training, or his ambition would be well and truly dead.

“Then I should get back to training. Thank you for the information, Hokage-sama.”

Sarutobi nodded. “Oh, one last thing. Due to the...intimate nature of the CRA's requirements, your ANBU have been instructed to ward the area and allow you privacy whenever you are alone with a woman. I trust you won't abuse the privilege.” Despite his words, there was a twinkle in the Hokage's eye as he said this. Sasuke grinned. For the first time since the conversation started, he felt like he had a chance.

“I am Konoha's humble servant,” he said, smirking. The old man snorted – Sasuke had never been a humble anything in his life - then waved the Uchiha heir away. 

 

Shikamaru and Haku were strolling down the street, returning from yet another dinner. Since the chuunin exam preliminaries, Shikamaru had made it a point to take Haku to a new restaurant every day. He played it off as 'showing Haku around', but privately considered the meals to be dates.

They had just come back from a rather familiar ramen stand, and Shikamaru was pleased. Haku had expressed some concern about Shikamaru's preparations for the chuunin exam. He didn't need one more person pushing him, but it had been the first time in four days Haku hadn't been preoccupied by thoughts of Zabuza's visit. They arrived at Haku's house as Shikamaru was congratulating himself, and the two turned to each other.

“Thank you for another excellent meal, Shikamaru-san. You seem to know all the best places to eat.”

Shikamaru chuckled. “You can thank my teammate for that. He loves food more than life itself, so I've picked up a couple of things.”

“Well, thank you again for showing me around. You really make me feel welcome here.” Haku bowed to the Nara heir, then turned to enter the house.

“Haku,” Shikamaru blurted. Haku turned. The Nara heir looked nervous. Shikamaru stared at the ice user awkwardly for a moment, before leaning forward and kissing Haku briefly on the lips.

Haku stared at the boy, wide-eyed, as he mumbled, “Good night,” and vanished into the night. Haku stood there for several minutes, starting at the last place he had seen Shikamaru, before opening the door and entering, relying on muscle memory to guide him while his higher brain function was busy. “I'm home,” he heard himself call, only to find himself face to face with Yuugao, who was sporting a mysterious smile.

“So, how did your date go?” the normally reserved woman asked.

“My what?” Haku asked, still attempting to process what was going on.

“Oh, come on. You two have been going out to dinner every night this week. You can't tell me you thought he was just being nice?”

“I...what? No, he was just showing me around.”

Yuugao looked at the shell-shocked ninja with pity, before saying, “Well, that kiss seems like a pretty strong indicator to the contrary. Usually, when a shy shinobi asks a cute kunoichi to dinner, it counts as a date, even if said shinobi is a chicken and won't come out and say it.”

“I'm not a kunoichi,” Haku commented absently.

“Oh, I know...complications with joining Konoha and all that, but you're a fully trained ninja, and that doesn't just go away.”

Haku, focusing slightly more on the conversation, explained. “No, I mean I'm not a kunoichi. I'm a shinobi, a ninja of the male persuasion.”

An awkward silence followed this revelation. “You're what?” Yuugao asked.

“A man,” Haku replied.

“A...but you...I...the Hokage said...how are you a guy?”

Haku, a bit annoyed at this point, said, “Did you never notice the lack of female underwear?”

“I figured you were just flat-chested, and a bit of a tomboy. Why don't you grow facial hair? I've never seen anything to shave with.”

“I periodically freeze the hair follicles on my face instead of shaving. Trust me, I've tried facial hair, and it's not pretty.”

“But how did you trick the Hokage? If he had known you were male, he would have placed you with a male ANBU.”

“He made an assumption. It happens more often than you would think. I stopped bothering with corrections a long time ago.”

Yuugao took a moment to consider this information, before another revelation struck her, causing her to open her eyes wide in shock. “Oh my god, you kissed Shikamaru!”

“First, he kissed me. Second, it's likely given the circumstances that he thinks I'm a girl too. Third, I was totally blindsided by the whole 'dating' thing, so I don't think you can really call any of this my fault.”

“I have to tell the Hokage about this. You have to tell Shikamaru. Seriously, how do trained ninja miss something like this?”

Haku looked at the floor at Yuugao's statement. “I was kind of hoping that I could...y'know...maybe avoid him for the rest of my life instead?”

“I know it's an awkward situation, but you'll hurt him more if you just disappear with no reason.” A note of reservation crept into Yuugao's voice. “Unless you're thinking of...pursuing the relationship?”

Haku made his way into the living room, and sprawled onto the couch, suddenly losing his polite demeanor in his anxiety. “A couple of months ago, all I had to worry about was what might kill Zabuza-sama on that particular day. I don't know how to deal with this.”

“Well...when he kissed you, did you like it?”

“Honestly, I was too shocked to feel much of anything. I think you could've thrown a rock at me and I wouldn't have noticed.”

“Hmmm...how do you feel when you're around Shikamaru?”

Haku considered this for a moment, reflecting on his past experiences. “I...well, I guess I'm more at ease around him?”

“Do you think about him when he's not around?” Yuugao pressed.

“Yes, sometimes. Is that unusual with friends? Shikamaru is my first, so I don't really know what is normal.”

Yuugao thought for a moment. “Friends think of each other at specific times, like when I see something that Anko would really like, or when I talk to Asuma, I think of Kurenai. Usually, the more often you think about someone, the more you care about them.”

“So you're saying that, short of finding more friends out of the blue, there's no way for me to tell how much is friends, and how much is more?”

Yuugao thought about this. “Well, perhaps there's a more pragmatic question to ask. If it were up to you, what would change about what is happening between you and Shikamaru?”

“He would tell me what he wants,” Haku replied, almost too quickly. It was the closest thing to annoyance Yuugao had ever seen the young girl – no, boy – exhibit.

Surprised, Yuugao asked, “And then what would happen?”

“Then I would know what I needed to do.”

Yuugao suspected it wouldn't quite work that way, but that was one piece of advice she suspected the newly-identified boy wasn't ready to hear. “Well, there's one easy way to find out what he wants. You can ask him about it while you're explaining about the gender confusion.”

Haku groaned at that. Yuugao gave one final push. She had found that Haku responded extremely well to orders. She was reluctant to abuse the flaw, since it seemed to encourage his astonishing level of subservience. However, some sacrifices had to be made for the sake of emotional development.

“Haku, the next time you see Shikamaru, you will reveal your gender, and you will ask about what he wants regarding your relationship. Do you understand?”

Haku responded immediately to the commanding tone. His formal demeanor returned, and he abruptly sat up straight on the couch he had previously been sprawled on. “Understood, Uzuki-san.”

 

It was nearly two o'clock in the morning when Shino was awakened by his mother.

"What is wrong Kaa-san?" He asked blearily.

"A young woman is asking for you. She says her name is Fu."

At that, Shino was wide awake. He efficiently gathered and donned clothes thinking furiously. When he had informed Fu of his open-door policy, he hadn't really expected her to come knocking a week later - he was expecting the girl to take nearly a month to come to a decision. He was concerned that something bad might have happened.

He quickly made his way to the sitting room, designed specifically for short social engagements and housing visitors of unknown motivation.

Fu was sitting there, staring into a cup of tea. Shino's father was reading a book on the other side of a long rectangular table - close enough to engage in conversation comfortably, but far enough to prevent any sense of intrusion. The Aburame prided themselves on being excellent hosts.

"It is good to see you again, Fu. Thank you for entertaining my guest while I made myself presentable, father." In politeness-semaphore, this meant go away. Shibi, of course, nodded politely.

"It was nice to meet you, Fu." Fu looked up abruptly at being addressed, and gave Shibi a shaky smile.

"It was nice to meet you as well, Mr. Aburame. Sorry again about visiting so late."

Shibi expressed amusement, though he would have been astonished to learn that Fu noticed. "It is no trouble. It is good training for Shino - waking up quickly at odd times can save a ninja's life." With that, he left the room.

Shino took a seat next to Fu on the couch.

"Are you well, Fu?" Shino asked in monotone. His bugs radiated concern.

And with that, the floodgates opened. Fu started sobbing, hugging her arms tight against her stomach. Shino, not used to such situations, hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. She curled into his chest instinctively.

A/N: The following will be translated from Cryspeak, the language of those attempting to communicate while experiencing uncontrollable diaphragm spasms. 

"It was horrible! They hate me, every one of them. I asked the Takikage for a team, and he told me I was too dangerous." There followed a period of howling sobs.

Shino, partially occupied by comforting the distraught jinchuuriki, was at the same time racing to decide how exactly to handle this situation. As things stood, it seemed likely that Takigakure would declare Fu a missing-nin, given their general trust of her. So one option was simply to keep her hidden here. This would severely limit her freedom, however, as there was no telling what spies might be wandering Konoha.

There were also policies in place to protect and integrate ninja choosing to defect from other countries. This would require Fu to betray her homeland in a much more formal and rigorous fashion, and could be seen as a formal act of espionage by Konoha. Taki would demand reparations at best, and declare war at worst, but that seemed less likely given their villages' relative power.

He might also be able to convince his father to declare clan protection over Fu. This would mitigate Konoha's complicity in the act, since it would be seen as the Aburame pressuring Konoha to protect the girl. It would, however, draw unneeded attention to the clan, and cause enmity between the Aburame and the entire village of Taki. That, and he would have to convince his father. 

These options raced through his head as Fu's sobs quieted to sniffles.

"They don't even see me," she whispered, "everyone in the village, the shopkeepers, the ninja...they do their best to pretend I'm not there. The Takikage is the only person in the village I've ever had a conversation with, and then only for mission briefings or training." Fresh tears came from the girl.

Shino felt empathy for the girl, but didn't really know how to respond. So he just held her, pondering how best to handle the situation.

Fu's new tears wore themselves out in turn, and the girl withdrew from Shino's embrace. Her face was a maelstrom of misery and apprehension.

"What am I going to do?" She asked, her voice hoarse.

"You are going to finish your tea, and I will show you to a guest room, where you can get cleaned up and rest. Further planning can wait until tomorrow."

Fu tried to look hopeful, but mostly just looked exhausted. "Is that really okay?"

"Yes, the Aburame pride themselves on hospitality."

Fu nodded, and finished her tea in one large gulp. Nothing sounded better than sleep right now.

Shino showed her to one of the guest rooms, a modest room with beige walls, red carpet, and a twin sized bed with a brown comforter. A small vanity sat against one wall, and the opposite contained a door leading to a compact bathroom.

Fu's eyes watered at the lavish (to her) room, but she quickly wiped her tears away. Shino had seen her cry far too much already.

"If you require anything, my room is two doors down, on the left."

Fu gave no response, so Shino moved to the door, content to leave the girl to her rest.

"Shino," Fu said quietly, interrupting his retreat, "how can I ever repay you?"

Shino processed this statement quietly for a moment. His response, when it came, was not what Fu expected.

"Sleep well, Fu." 

Shino was not entirely surprised to find his father waiting for him in the hall. When your entire family controls intelligent insects, privacy can be challenging.

"An explanation of these events would be appreciated." Shibi commented. His bugs were entirely unresponsive - the Aburame equivalent of a poker face, not easily achieved.

Shino described the events and conversations that took place in the Forest of Death to the best of his ability, glossing over Karin's evident infatuation with both Fu and himself as best he could. He then continued to describe the conversation in the living room (which Shibi had no doubt heard in its entirety), and his offer of a place to stay. Shibi remained stoic through the explanation.

"How do you intend to handle the situation?" Shibi asked. A spike of anxiety hit Shino. He took a moment to gather himself.

"My preference, with your permission, is to offer her clan protection."

Shibi frowned very slightly. "Such would make the Aburame a target for retribution."

Shino nodded. "That is true. However, the ninja of Taki are neither strong nor abundant, lowering the risk. Further, Konoha can respond from a position of strength should any opposition occur."

Shibi was silent for a moment. "It would be safer to simply confine her to the clan grounds."

Shino nodded, recognizing the point. "Fu would be a prisoner. After her village's treatment of her, I would be uncomfortable subjecting her to such."

Shibi examined his son for several long moments. Finally, he asked the only question that really mattered.

"Is this girl's happiness worth endangering your clan?"

Shino gave the question the thought it deserved. He was, after all, essentially making the life of every Aburame ninja more difficult. Could he handle losing a clan member, a family member, to a Taki ambush or assassin? Could he cope with the responsibility of a person's death?

Could he face Fu, and tell her she was trading one prison for another? Could he watch the spark of hope for a better life, so recently struck, die out in isolation?

Could he survive Karin's reaction when she found out?

Shino finally nodded his head at his father. "Yes, it is." His certainty vibrated through the humming of his bugs.

Shibi nodded. "Sleep well. I will handle things in the morning."

"Thank you, Father," Shino said, gratified that his father would rely on his opinion in this.

Shibi just nodded before heading back to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always thought the CRA was a bit contrived. In my mind, if the point is to husband clan techniques and abilities, ninja would treat the subject in much the way that the Hyuuga view protecting their bloodline - with the threat of violence.


End file.
